kutamaya

A funeral event in Bali is as festive and conspicuous as a wedding. Long funeral processions crawling through Denpasar's narrow streets often clog traffic arteries and halt people's activities.

But no true Balinese would ever grumble about this inconvenience. Instead, every road user quite willingly shows deep respect for the occasion and makes way for the procession to proceed to the nearest cremation grounds.

The long procession of relatives and sympathizers, all dressed in festive traditional attire and accompanied by a lively band of musicians, enters the grounds.

Not less impressive is the funeral pyre; mounted on a bamboo platform and carried by more than a dozen strong men. On top of the pyre, adorned with ornate decorations in resplendent gold and silver, is the coffin of the deceased. As proscribed by tradition, a close relative rides next to the coffin to hold it in place during the journey.

The funeral of Ni Luh Wati, who died of heart disease at the age of 70, took place 10 days after the deceased passed away, allowing relatives to gather at her home and pay their last respects.

After the grieving period, relatives began working on preparations for the festive procession in order to free the deceased's soul from the body.

In Balinese-Hindu cremations, grief is turned into a colorful event, with gongs, cymbals and flute musicians paving the way to the cremation grounds.

Contrary to modern beliefs, which see death as the end of one's life, traditional Balinese-Hindu beliefs deem death as just a transition from one phase of a person's life to the next.

As the procession of Ni Luh Wati's funeral arrived at the cremation grounds, the coffin was brought down from the pyre. The deceased, wrapped in white cloth, was taken out and placed in a banana trunk-walled enclosure.

Offerings and burial paraphernalia are also placed in the enclosure.

A piece of white cloth was spanned over the enclosed area to signify respect. The organizer of the cremation event had prepared four powerful gas burners, which were placed at the corners of the enclosure and directed towards the corpse.

After last respects were paid, along with the incantation of mantras and prayers, the burners were lit. Huge tongues of flames and black smoke, signifying the demolishing process of the corpse had begun, filled the air above the body.

While members of the procession relaxed under the shade of a big tree to relief themselves of Bali's midday sun, the organizer remained constantly busy.

The organizer was there to ensure that the burst of fire was constantly directed to the remains of the deceased. After four or five hours of burning, the gas burners were removed and the organizer informed relatives that the cremation process was over.

He pulled out a large sheet of zinc, on which the deceased's body had been laid, to show what was left -- only a handful of ash and some bone fragments.

Relatives were invited to sprinkle water over the ashes as mantras and prayers were once again performed.

In Bali-Hindu tradition, the ashes are taken to the beach and released into the sea.

The funeral of Ni Luh Wati was regarded a simple cremation, however, it costs several million rupiah to carry out.

The cremation of a member of an aristocratic family -- such as that of Tjokorda Gede Agung Suyasa, the Prince of Ubud, which was held last week -- are generally more elaborate and require a bigger budget.

The pyre that holds the deceased's body in such elaborate cremations is always decorated lavishly and usually takes the shape of a mythical Garuda bird or a buffalo. Grand cremation ceremonies take weeks, sometimes months, of preparation.

Such cremations often provide an opportunity for the less affluent to join in the festive atmosphere to give their deceased family member a befitting start on their way to heaven. This was also the case in last week's elaborate Ubud cremation, in which the remains of 68 others were included in the grand ceremony.

[thejakartapost]