Balinese Cremations
The granddaughter of the deceased, treated as an honored princess during the cremation ceremony
Image | Reid Coen
Perhaps more than with any other travel destination, the accessibility of Bali’s traditional culture sets it apart. Temple festivals, great and small, happen continually and visitors are not only welcomed but encouraged. Balinese dance-drama, perhaps the island’s most famous attribute, remains an authentic part of Balinese religious and social life yet is still performed with gusto for tourists.
Of all the cultural events available for travelers in Bali, clearly the most special is a cremation. It may seem strange for Westerners, but Balinese cremations are celebratory and public occasions—think more wake than funeral and prepare to be engaged by “the more the merrier '' attitude of the local participants.
A cremation day is characterized more by fun and laughter than mourning. The community is helping to achieve their sacred duty: liberating the soul of the departed and freeing them to reincarnate. In Bali’s unique form of Hinduism, the body is only a shell—the vessel of the soul. After death, the soul lingers near the body until being liberated by fire. Through cremation, the soul is released to be reborn. Failure to be liberated forces the soul to exist as a ghost, often haunting careless descendants. Therefore, the cremation is a big send-off, the life-long ambition of all Balinese. They look forward to it, often making provision during life. An ostentatious event gains prestige for the family. Expenses are often enormous with priest’s fees, costly structures, offerings, and food and entertainment provided for guests. Often a family of limited means must wait, sometimes for years, to save enough money.
Upon death, elaborate religious and purification rites are observed, often lasting several days. The body is taken to a cemetery and buried. Once the family has marshalled sufficient resources, a priest determines an auspicious day for the cremation and the body is exhumed. The family is concerned only with the soul now. An effigy is made to contain the soul and it is cared for until the cremation. On the eve of cremation, a great procession is held and the effigy is presented to a priest for final blessing. On cremation day, the body is placed in an elaborately designed and decorated animal-shaped sarcophagus. A great decorated tower, shaped like a temple gate, is brought forth to transport the corpse, with as many as 75 men required to carry the tower.
When all the preparations are ready and the guests have feasted, the procession starts toward the cremation grounds. Attended by music, dancers, revelers, and women carrying effigies, the effigy tower is turned, spun, and whirled to confuse the spirit and prevent it from reentering the body. Upon arrival at the grounds, the body is brought down a ramp from the tower and placed in the sarcophagus, which in turn is placed on a pyre under a cremation pavilion.
Throughout the entire affair there is no hysteria and, by western standards, little reverence. Since the body is merely a vessel, the ceremony is attended by much joking, laughing, and even talking to the corpse. Much later, when all is consumed by fire, the ashes are placed in an urn, a new procession is formed, and the family and attendees march to the sea. There the ashes are scattered, and the family bathes in the water for ritual cleansing.
As I have suggested above, perhaps the most remarkable feature of a Balinese cremation, and Balinese culture in general, is the way travelers are encouraged to participate. Not only allowed to be present, visitors are actually encouraged to contribute with their presence. All western sensibilities of voyeurism must be suspended. All are welcome. The reward is the privilege of sharing in one of the travel world’s great cultural connection experiences.
