On a recent trip to Bali, we
decided to explore Nusa Dua beach yesterday afternoon. Upon arrival our tour driver
excitedly told us that there was a ceremony going on. He must be able to tell
from a local’s bird eye view from the movement of the scenario. Our excitement
upon hearing the word ceremony made us leave in a rush we didn’t even ask what
sort of a ceremony it is. We hurriedly walked to the beach to find a group of
Balinese, young and old, all wearing sarong gear in colorful shades, gathering
under a huge wide spread branches tree for the best shade from the mighty sun. While
we feast on the colorful dresses the women were wearing, a truck load of men wearing
a more sophisticated costume unloaded their instruments and promptly started
playing. It was like there is going to be a musical ceremony, my thought at
that time. Not long after that, came some men carrying a makeshift altar
decorated with the "heart" of a banana, place it standing on the
beach facing the group of people gathering. Then a priest in white led a group
of women prayer of jovial songs. We stayed under the shade the whole time and
took a few pictures while the participants were eating their packed lunch. Soon
we saw some women carry colorful offerings onto a small boat parked in front of
the makeshift altar. When offerings were
all set, the boat moved away into the ocean carrying all what is offered. While
the small boat journeyed into the wide ocean, some of the participants followed
to the water to wash their hands and feet and smilingly pose in front of their
cameras for souvenir photos of that apparently festive occasion.
Thinking it was over; we headed back to the car to ask our driver.
He told us that it was a funeral. That the group had come from a cremation and we
witnessed the spreading of the departed’s ashes into the sea. We were surprise
to see no one was crying. It was joyful, festive and noisy. So, we ask him why
there is no crying involved. And he simply responded to us that crying is
forbidden in funerals. For Hinduism,
death is a joyous occasion, when a soul meets its maker. It was a real eye
opener for us to discover more about Indonesia’s
culture as the driver explained to us about cremation in Indonesia.
Bali is a province
of Indonesia famous for
cremation with spectacular beaches, a beautiful place to explore. In fact, it
is considered the largest tourist destination in the country; and is renowned
for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance,
sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking, and music.
The majority of Indonesians practice Hinduism as their
religion and a lesser group follows Islam. In Hinduism, cremation ceremonies
are performed for a deceased family member. Ngaben as they call it is a sign of respect for
a child to a deceased parent. Cremation ceremony is to restore the ancestral
spirits to their places of origin; The Earth and The God. On the
day of the ceremony, there will be no crying but joy. It is said that crying
will hinder the departure of the deceased, making it hard for them to arrive to
their destination which is meeting the creator. It will be a festive day, not a
mournful one for the participants on this day are dressed in colorful clothing
and not one tear to shed for the deceased as if the person is alive and simply sleeping.
They will gather on this day after a long time of preparation as it will take
time to prepare this ceremony. In fact, the preparation involves a lot of money
and people, as it takes the community’s help to make it possible. For those who
can not afford to perform a cremation ceremony, the deceased will be buried for
the meantime and have a ceremony later when there is enough money saved or they
go along with someone else’s ceremony to cut the cost.
There are so many preparations involved; a cremation tower (wadah)
has to be built; a sarcophagus in the form of a "Lembu", bull,
"Singga", Lion, or a "Gajah mina", fish body with an elephant
head, has to be carved depending on the status symbol of the deceased. A few
days before the Ngaben ceremony will be held, the family is assisted by the
public to make the tower and on the actual day of the ceremony, the corpse will
be laid inside the built tower to be carried by a group of men to the gravesite,
followed by flock of people in a procession, along with Balinese traditional
music (gamelan) and holy mantra (kidung suci). As the procession progress, every
time they arrive at a T-junction or a crossroad, the temple will be turned three
times clockwise for the soul to find the destination without confusion. Once they reach the grave yard site, the family
members will offer prayers and the corpse will then be placed inside a sarcophagus
resembling a buffalo made of paper and wood. The ceremony is lead by a priest
on a definite day, seeking advice from the goddess (Dewasa) to determine the suitable
time for the burning ceremony. In front
of the tower is a long piece of white cloth (kasa), leading the ways of the deceased
soul to reach their eternal dwelling. Then the priest lead the mantra chanting
followed by the burning. The ash is then carried on a boat with some offerings
to dispersed anywhere on the water, ocean or river. When all ceremony had been
completed, the deceased considered as ancestor, who they believed will
reincarnate into their family one day and be back as a new person, a better one.
There will be food, cigarettes and other offerings for the hundreds of people
who came to help as part of the ceremony.
Additional information:
Social order in Bali
Brahmana the highest caste is the Priest
Kshatriya - the
military and ruling class
Wesia is the merchant
Sudra –is the lowest caste – this the biggest population in Bali .
The language from lower to highest caste is bit different
too – which is more polite and less casual talk if someone goes to meet or visit
a Brahmana house.
If the priest passes away, they can not bury the body
because a holy man can not touch the earth again. Their soul should go straight
way to the other world. The rest of the caste can be buried and be attached to
the earth for awhile. It always depends on the family’s financial status. If
the family has a good financial standing, they may do cremation ceremony within
a week or a month. But a family of less financial resources will have to bury
the body for a while until they can afford a cremation ceremony because it can cost
lots of money.
According to teachings of Hinduism, a human body originates
from Panca Mahabuta, there are the 5 elements that make up the human body.
Earth or Solid substance - Pertiwi
Water or Liquid substance - Apah
Fire or Hot substance - Tejah
Air or Gas substance - Bayu
Ethera - Akasa
All will be restored to its original residence – the universe,
while soul will be returned to its origin which is God.
There are ceremonies for every stage of Balinese life but
often the last ceremony which is cremation is the biggest of them all. A
Balinese cremation can be an amazing, spectacular, colorful, noisy and exciting
event, an opportunity to observe the incredible energy the Balinese put into
creating real works of art which are totally short-lived.
The tower is also a status symbol as is the sarcophagus. The
status symbol is the number of tiers a tower can have. The number of tiers of
tower is always odd numbers of 3, 5, 7, 9 or 11. Eleven is highest number. King
and their family and members of the Brahmin caste are entitled to a tower of 11
tiers, Ksatriyas can have a tower of 9, Weisyas of 7, and Sudra of 5.
A “Lembu” or Bull is for King and their family and the
Brahmin caste. Ksatriyas are burned in a “Singa” or Lion and Weisyas have the
same sarcophagus as the Ksatriyas and the Sudras have the “Gajah mina”.
A few things added on our day tour to Nusa Dua which means
two islands was additional information on the kind of life in Indonesia which
we never realized because we were so busy admiring the beauty of Indonesia but
oblivious of the beauty in the people’s heart who suffered from poverty.
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