Indonesia: Ngaben

Man watches fires for Ngaben ceremony in Bali surrounded by smoke

On the third leg of my Indonesian trip, we stayed just North of Ubud, Bali. It was such a different Bali to the one I expected – it was full of life, colour and tradition. One such tradition I witnessed was Ngaben, a Balinese Hindu cremation ceremony.

The village of Gentong held a Banjar Cremation which is a mass cremation that only occurs every five years. The deceased of the village are temporary buried until the ceremony.

Anticipating sombre atmosphere, I was amazed to see the excitement accompanied by the (repetitive-but-cheerful) tune of a food cart. As I later learnt, the ceremony is as much about life as it is death. This is because the cremation allows for the deceased spirit to be reincarnated.

Colourful preparations for the ngaben ceremony

Getting ready for the cremation takes hours and one of the first steps is for the deceased bodies to be excavated.

I haven’t been particularly close to death before but, sitting at the kuburan (cremation grounds) surrounded by the stench of corpses and simultaneous laughter from children, gave me a different perspective on death. In fact, families are specifically advised against shedding a tear “as it may hinder the soul’s journey to heaven.”

Children smiling and playing, one wearing a mask

The situation felt truly surreal and, despite being one of few tourists there, my camera wasn’t out of place – families were taking selfies with the sarcophagus of their loved one. Each of the deceased was placed along with offerings in a petulangan – an intricate and colourful paper coffin shaped as an Ox (or mythical animal), a lembu.

Ngaben in Gentong, Bali - the petulangan before the fire

A petulangan of a bull (lembu) on fire at a ngaben ceremony

Once the priest had recited hymns for each of the dead, the final and spectacular part of the day was setting the petulangan alight. The fire incinerates the body allowing for the five elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether) to be returned to their original residence and releasing the spirit. The coffins were set alight with a large flame thrower which left me questioning the safety of the whole thing, but the sight of all these animals in flames and the growing volume of smoke coupled with the smell of burning bodies was unbelievable.

Twelve days later the families will return to collect the ashes to release them into the sea or river to allow for reincarnation.

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