A good name is not the only thing to find or determine by the parents when a baby is born into a Balinese family, they also have to find out which ancestor is reincarnated into that newly born baby. Seven or twelve days after the baby was born, the family will consult a sightseer (dasaran) to find out the identity of the baby in his / her past life. This activity of consulting the sightseer for the past life of the newly born baby is called “Ngaluang”.

The typical result of this consultation is the ancestor from the father side is reincarnated into the newly born baby; though in some cases, it is the ancestor from mother side reincarnates. There are also rare cases in which the ancestor outside the ancestry of father and mother or deity of certain temple reincarnates into the newly born baby.

Based on ancient religious scripture, Balinese believe that, not all soul can reincarnate into a baby, only a soul that has undergone the deification ceremony (nyekah) and installed in the family temple as ancestor has an access into reincarnation circle.

The faith in reincarnation (samsara) is one of five basic faiths in Balinese Hindu religion (Panca Sradha). The faith in reincarnation gives a strong sense of belonging in Balinese families, since the parents believe that their children is the reincarnation of their ancestors and one day they will incarnate as their own descendant.

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