Ngaben

Ngaben, Bali Cremation Ceremony

Balinese Religion is based on respect for and worship of God and ancestor. It is believed that after death, the body must be dissolved and returned to its original elements. Ngaben, the Balinese word for cremation is a purification rite which frees the spirit from its temporary earthly house and facilitates its journey to its next existence.

It is a custom and part of a tradition in Bali when someone dies, the whole villager (where one was lives) will help with the preparation for the cremation. The dead body is laid out in a special part of the house to be bathed and prepared. The night before the cremation, holy water will be collected from some main temple and used in preparation of the body and during the cremation. The entire villager (but especially for family and relatives) will participate on the day of the cremation ceremony. Before the body cremated at the cemetary, it will be placed into a wadah, after at the cemetary, and then they body of the deceased is placed inside a coffin which is then placed inside a form of a lembu (cow) which believes to be the vehicle of the spirits, made of paper and light wood. It will be carried to the village cremation site (usually in the village cemetery) in a procession. The ultimate procession is to burn the Wadah, using fire from a holy source.

When all the procession has done the ashes are placed in the sea, and it is the final separation of the soul from the body.

Balinese Monkey Dance

Kecak dance, better known as the Balinese Monkey Dance. Recently, about 5 thousand people gathered, some whipping themselves into a trance, at Tanah Lot, Bali, Indonesia to pray for the return of tourism. That may sound crass and commercial but tourism is entwined in Bali’s spiritual, cultural and economic life. I have spent a lot of time in Bali over the years and I miss it. The last time I was there was just after the bombings a couple of years ago. Farmers, flower growers, artists, performers, were all devastated both morally and economically by that tragedy.
Bali is a mishmosh of Hindu and animist traditions — an island in an otherwise Muslim country — and the monkey dance has elements of the Ramayana along with something called sanghyang, an exorcism ritual. It is said be a piece of choreography created in the 1930 by a local dancer and German artist Walter Spies. In fact, around that time, artists came from all over the world. You find tourists incorporated in traditional paintings. One of the clearest explanations of Bali art, dance and culture can be found in the Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias’ 1937 book “The Island of Bali.

In the Ramayana tale, monkeys help Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. Sure, the Monkey Dance was created with a tourist audience in mind. But then art, music and dance in Bali is nourished by tourism. Without an audience, it would have withered. Bali is still one of the most inspiring and intriguing places on earth.