A cremation ceremony is a joyful moment, full of happiness and festivity, with tons of offerings, lavishly decorated cremation tower, energetic sound of Gamelan Balaganjur, elegant procession, and flocks of family, relatives, and Banjar members.

Theoretically, a cremation ceremony can be held in a simple way, without so much fuss with simple offering and simple preparation but as a matter of fact, a simple cremation ceremony is a rare event. Many Balinese consider that a simple cremation ceremony is a disgrace to the deceased and his/her family. Fred B. Eiseman, Jr gives a better explanation on this account.

“But cremations are never simple. There is a pervasive belief that no expense must be spared in this final sendoff of the soul, as any skimping would constitute disrespect. And since this soul will shortly become a deified ancestor, with great power to help or hurt, a cheap funeral is considered a very bad way to start off a relationship. And not only the spirit are impressed by the grand cremation. A good ceremony will win a family status and prestige in the village. The vanity of man comes into play even upon the stage of death. The rule seems to be that every family provides as grand a cremation as it can afford -perhaps even more than it can afford- in terms of money and time.”

It is true that most of the families of the deceased held cremation ceremonies that are more than they can afford in order to win a prestige. Most Balinese considered a simple cremation ceremony is not a decent cremation ceremony. A simple cremation ceremony is considered as sign of thrifty and unwillingness to provide a “decent” cremation to the deceased and that means the members of family do not love and respect the deceased. This stigma is feared by most of the Balinese, they will do anything to ensure that their deceased family member get a “decent” cremation ceremony. An act of “will do anything” includes selling a rice field, selling valuable possession or even getting a loan.

The enormous sum of money combines with the massive workforce that is needed and weeks of non-stop preparation of cremation will create a great burden to the family of the deceased. A quarrel among the family members during preparation of cremation is a usual event in Bali. The preparation of cremation ceremony can be a full-pressure working environment to the family of the deceased.

After a “decent” cremation ceremony is over there is usually a lost of rice fields or a debt to think about. This problem will not be occurred in a well to do family or in a family that have been saving money for years in order to be used for a “decent” cremation ceremony or in a family that choose to abandon the prestige and hold a simple cremation ceremony.

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