Cremation at Banjar Sayan - Ubud July 2010

These images contain only a glimpse of cremationa at the banjar Penestanan, where the main focus is on the number of interactions of tourists and kids who see this ceremony.

more about cremation/ngaben

Ngaben, or Cremation Ceremony, is the ritual performed in Bali to send the deceased to the next life. The body of the deceased will be placed as if sleeping, and the family will continue to treat the deceased as sleeping. No tears are shed, because the deceased is only temporarily not present and will reincarnate or find his final rest in Moksha (freeing from the reincarnation and death cycle).

The proper day of the ceremony is always a matter of consulting a specialist on ceremony days. On the day of the ceremony, the body of the deceased is placed inside a coffin. This coffin is placed inside a sarcophagus resembling a buffalo (Lembu) or in a temple structure (Wadah) made of paper and wood. The buffalo or temple structure will be carried to the cremation site in a procession. The procession is not walking in a straight line. This is to confuse bad spirits and keep them away from the deceased.

The climax of Ngaben is the burning of the whole structure, together with the body of the deceased. The fire is necessary to free the spirit from the body and enable reincarnation.

Ngaben is not always immediately performed. For higher caste members it is normal to perform the ritual within 3 days. For lower caste members the deceased are buried first and later, often in a group ceremony for the whole village, cremated. (source:wikipedia)

Ngaben- Cremation Ceremony in Katik Lantang Village- Ubud

Ngaben is a Hindu cremation ceremony in Bali, Indonesia. Ngaben event is a ritual performed to send the bodies to the next life. Bodies should be put asleep, and the families left behind will always think so (sleep). There is no tears, because the body is temporarily absent and will undergo reincarnation or find the last resting or moksha (freedom from the wheel of death and reincarnation.

Cow/ Bull are not only animal that is used as a vehicle for cremation, but also sometimes there are other forms of animals such as fish, tiger, elephants, dragons. All of these animals symbolize different clan / family stream.

The villagers brought the bull and other forms of animals with shouting excitedly.

At each intersection, they will rotate three times to confuse evil spirits, so do not follow them to the grave.

Ngaben in the village is done once every five years, in katik lantang - Ubud heald on July 23th 2010. So these events are quite rare for most people, so it deserves if the atmosphere and knick-knacks Ngaben in immortalized by the camera. Seemed the two little girls who pose in front of a bull for a remembrance.

Dragon as one of the forms of animals as a vehicle to heaven

Appropriate day for this event is always discussed with people who understand. On this day, the body placed in coffin-bodies to die. Chest-die sarcophagus was placed inside a container like a bull or in the form of temples, made of wood and paper. Form of a bull or monastery was taken to the cremation place through a procession. The procession was not running on a straight road. This is in order to confuse evil spirits and keep him away from the body.

Ngaben highlight the overall structure is burning (bull or monasteries made of wood and paper), along with the corpses. The fire needed to liberate the spirit from the body and eases the reincarnation.

Ngaben not always be done immediately. For members of high caste, it is very reasonable to perform this ritual within three days. But for members of lower castes, the body first buried and then cremated few years later on collective / mass cremation. (source wikipedia)

Ngagah - Raised the Dead Ceremony

Most people know Balinese cremation only a ceremonial and bull paraded. Then there is a little ritual that took place before the top event which on the hunt by the photographers as I was when the atmosphere of burning cattle, bade, or cremation. Actually there are many series of ceremonies before and after Ngaben/ cremation in Bali. A ceremony that little bit scary, named "Ngagah", which means digging back bones and burn it with the bulls. This ceremony held at dawn after wood bath and a couple of hours before Ngaben.

Wood as a Symbol of the Human Body

Bed for bathing

Dead body placed into a special place with his/her picture and clothes

Balinese musical

Carving of Balinese musical Instruments

The bodies (wood) move to bathe

Chinese koin, use for offering complement

Dressing stuf for the dead

A wood symbol of the dead

Materials for bathing, containing spices and scented oils

A symbol of dead people and place for the spirit

Watching from a distance

A person with high caste led the ceremony of each family

Watering

Each family hands closing the genital

Cleaning the nails, only a symbolic

The oldest son spouted spices, as a symbol in order to keep the dead body warm

Ready, the wood already clean and dressed

There was three villages that have done the same things

Children also interested the ceremony as a cultural inheritors

A woman from other family prepare the bathing

After the bath, known as "ngeringkes, which wraps all the symbols of the dead with white sheets and mats written in the sacred script.

Previously I've reviewed about a dead body and the bathing ceremony of burial. Now I review mass Ngaben/ cremation held on July 23 - 2010 in the Katik lantang village, Ubud, Gianyar. After the villagers perform a long process for more than three months of working together to make offerings, is now the first step is to arouse the spirits of the family died from the grave and transferred to a timber through the ceremony. Unfortunately I missed the seance. I just attended the bathing ceremony. Perhaps logically, the bodies that have long been rotting in the ground is too hard to be bathed because they are no longer intact, so that only the souls who were moved into a small wood of human shape as a symbol of the human body.

other picture