More than 15.000 people witnessed the royal cremation ceremony of the head of Ubud’s royal family. this grand cremation ceremony needed almost three months of preparation, hundreds of workers, exorbitant budget, and tons of offerings materials. All these resources were combine a together and created a magnificence ceremony, one of the biggest cremation ceremonies for decades. Many articles and reportages have been written to describe the magnificence of this ceremony, so it seems superfluous and redundant to write another an article on this ceremony. Instead here are some photos of the ceremony, this time let the photos do the talk.

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Ngaben or cremation ceremony is arguably the most documented Balinese ceremony among hundreds of Balinse religious ceremonies. And of course the prima ballerina of Balinese cremation is the cremation tower or well known as Bade or Wadah. Bade or wadah is a tower which is used to carry the body of the deceased to the cremation ground.

Bade or Wadah is a pagoda-like structure with multi-tiered roof, constructed by a group of special craftsmen known as sangging with specific material such as bamboo, paper mace and cotton. The size, proportion and the structure of the bade is strictly governed by the ancient rules of bade construction. The height of the Bade could reach up to 25 meters and the weight around 10 ton. It is required a few hundreds of man to carry it.

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