Contents:

Bali Travel Guidebook:
Ngaben Massal -
Mass Cremation

Introduction
Background on Bali
Activities & Tours
Language
Climate & Clothing
Money
Shopping
Health
Balinese Culture
   Naming System
   Religion
   Temples
   Ceremonies for        Children
   Wedding &
       Tooth Filing
   Royal Odalan &
       Tooth Filing
   Purification
       Ceremony
   Cremation
   Royal Cremation
   Special Days

On 19th August 2002 the village of Bangkiang Sidem held a mass cremation. This form of cremation, or ngaben massal in Balinese, is popularly performed in villages where the economic resources of individual families are too limited to be able to afford individual cremation ceremonies. The cremation ceremony for the Hindu Balinese people is the culmination of a series of ceremonies at different points of their life cycle, and generally is the most expensive of all to perform, not only in the form of money but also in the huge amount of time taken to prepare for this ceremony.

The village of Bangkiang Sidem, 1½ km to the north of Campuhan and ½ km north of KLUB KOKOS, is the home of 63 families, 10 of which had at least one member of their family die in the past 5 Balinese years (approximately 7 calendar years) since the last mass cremation was held. Four families prepared to cremate two people each while a remaining 6 families had a single-family member who had past away since the last cremation. This means that there were in total 14 people cremated at the ngaben massal.

This ngaben also included a small ceremony for 33 souls that were not considered old enough for a full cremation at the time of their death. They were the souls of foetuses and babies that had died at birth or within the first few years of their lives, before such time as they lost their first baby teeth. These deaths had occurred over the past 10 Balinese years, as this ceremony wasn’t included in the last ngaben massal of Bangkiang Sidem in 1995.

While the families of the dead had already been busily preparing for the ceremony for some time, the rest of the village was also involved in gotong royong (collective helping ala Indonesia) since mid-July. Each day at least one male and one female representative of each household went to work with everyone else in a special area beside the Pura Dalem (Temple of the Dead) at the southern boundary of the village, where the cremation ceremony was held. Men and women generally dressed in black, indicating that they are working in preparation of a cremation, were seen grouped around this area from early in the day joining forces to support the families of the deceased.

Apart from the time spent in preparations, families of each person to be cremated needed to provide Rp. 3 000 000,- (approximately US$360/Aust$530) per person to the banjar, as well as many things such as coconuts, leaves, bamboo, rice, etc. totalling about another Rp. 1 000 000,- On top of this there were extra costs involved for those with extended family and friends from outside the village, who needed to be sent invitations, and to be entertained on arrival at the village. Thus even for this type of ngaben ceremony, the simplest form possible, there is a great financial burden on the families to provide the appropriate send-off for their dead. For other members of the village there was no actual monetary donation, but the giving of goods like bamboo, coconuts, leaves, etc. are a stipulated requirement of each household, how many of each being specified by the head of the banjar. Then of course there is the donation of their time for labour, but in the culminating days to the ceremony there is a return of Balinese sate (finely minced pork & spices moulded on to a skewer honed from bamboo) and lawar (Balinese vegetable dishes – very spicy, & must be consumed within a short time of its preparation), made collectively by the banjar and then divided amongst the members of the community to take back to their homes. This ‘give and receive’ situation within the community for a cremation is termed patus in Balinese. While the ‘giving’ had been going on for the past month, the ‘receiving’ occurred on the 16th & 18th of the month, where in the early morning hours the men were busy slaughtering two pigs on each day, and chopping grinding and mixing to prepare the sate and lawar to take home to each member of the community. It is the men who carry out the cooking for special occasions such as this, while the women are busy with the preparation of offerings. As well as food packages for each family, sate was also made these mornings to include in the offerings for the cremation ceremony.

While for the whole of the month preceding the cremation a visitor to the village of Bangkiang Sidem could witness a hive of activity, the climax of activities began on the 16th, where while the banjar was busily cooking, family members gathered at the cemetery next to the Pura Dalem to excavate a token amount of their deceased’s remains to be included in the effigy of the person for cremation. Small headstones had been put in place when someone is ‘temporarily’ buried for the time until their cremation, so members of the family knew exactly where the person was buried as they had been making visits to the gravesite regularly since the person died to provide offerings and token gifts of food for the person. These visits were on Balinese festive days and on the deceased’s oton (Balinese birthday). It is believed that the soul of the person is not free of this world until after the cremation of the physical body, and so the dead must still be catered for until this stage, or it will not lie at rest.

Token samples of the dust where the bodies had been buried in the cemetery were then taken across the road to the temporary ‘homes’ made for each of the deceased there. The symbolic remains of the bodies were greeted by those waiting by the ‘home’ as if the person has come alive again, given food, drink & a warm welcome before a symbolic ‘death’ of the person occurs once more, & the ritual bathing & offerings were made in preparation for the cremation in three days’ time. Many offering prepared in the preceding weeks were already in place there as well. This is a very emotional time, especially for those that had lost younger members of the family.

On the following day, the 17th, a day of rest from preparations was held, while offerings were brought by the families to the ‘home’ of their deceased to give them sustenance for their ensuing journey from this world. On the 18th, while once again the banjar was busy cooking, a representative for each of the 14 deceased journeyed down to the River Wos Timur to the east of the village to seek holy water for the body’s ritual bathing later in the day in a ceremony using a pedanda (high priest).

Once the burning of the effigy and all of the associated offerings and structures for the effigy had been carried out, family members collected the ashes and ground them into a fine powder, placing the powder in a special kind of coconut with old Chinese coins and holy water. This then was carried down to the river to the east of the Pura Dalem to be dispersed in the water. Holy water from this place was then brought back to the ‘home’ beside the Pura Dalem, where a mepegat ceremony was held as a way to check that all has been carried out correctly, and that the souls of the deceased were now finally free.

When in Bali, you are welcome to have a look at any of the preparations that are going on for a cremation. On the day of the cremation, you also may come, but please remember that being a very special religious ceremony you will be expected to wear suitable dress - a sarong, selendang (sash tied around the waist), and shirt covering your arms. Please don’t get in the way of those carrying out the ceremony, especially the pedanda, who is considered to be above the material world, and you should not put yourself in a position higher than him. A ngaben (cremation) is not a private ceremony for the Balinese, and by showing the proper respect you will be most welcome to attend. This is an opportunity for you to discover just another of the many intricacies that go to make up the world of the Balinese Hindus, that makes Bali such a special place.

[next - Pelebon - Royal Cremation Ceremony]

Thispage was last updated on May 31, 2004