Ngaben Ceremony - The way to the "Afterlife"

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.

Ngaben is one of Hindu’s great ceremony in Bali where the corpse is burnt, accompanied by holly songs and offerings. Hindu’s believe that ngaben will return the soul of a dead person to their abode in heaven or send the dead through a transition to his next life. Ngaben is also a form of a respect to their parents by releasing the soul from worldly attachment. Families that conduct ngaben ceremony generally try not to cry at the grave yard since they believe that tears would only incommode the deceased journey to their eternal abode.

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.

the-preparation-before-burning.jpgFew days before the climax ceremony, the family would consult the “dewasa” (good day) to a priest to determine the proper day to conduct this ceremony. The process began by built a stage as a place for nyiramin (bathing the corpse), made a lembu (a buffalo shaped sarcophagus where the corpse will be put into and burnt) and wadah (temple structure made of paper, bamboo and light wood). This lembu will be carried to the village grave yard in a procession.

Before climax ceremony, all family members will give their last respect and begun to pray in order the deceased will somehow get a better place in heaven. Afterward the corpse will be put into wadah and carried to graveyard, followed by flock of people and gamelan (Balinese traditional music) and “kidung suci” (holy mantra). In front of the wadah, there will be placed a long piece of kasa (white cloth) heading the ways of the deceased soul to reach their eternal abode.

Ever past T-junction or crossroad, wadah will be turned clockwise three times in order the soul will not return to his or her home. Arrive at the graveyard, the corpse then will transferred to lembu, followed by mantra chanting by the priest and the lembu will be burnt and it ash carried to sea or river. When all ceremony had been completed, the deceased considered as ancestor, who believed will reincarnate into their family.

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.