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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The royal cremation of the Ubud royal family head Tjokorda Gde Agung Suyasa, who died in March after a long illness, and lesser royal Tjokorda Gde Raka who also died in March, which is held today, is surely one of the biggest royal cremation ceremonies in the history of Bali. Apart from the gigantic cremation towers, the prima ballerina of this royal cremation is none other then the Naga Banda, a seven-metre long ‘dragon’, made of tons of bamboo and wood, decorated with brilliant accessories.

To shed a better light on Naga Banda, here is a short story on the origin of Naga banda and why it is used in a royal cremation.

King Waturenggong, the king of Bali, held a grand ceremony in the capital city of his kingdom, Gelgel. One of the requirements of the ceremony is that a high priest of Buda sect has to officiate the ceremony along with the high priest of Siwa sect; so Danghyang Astapaka, a high priest of Buda sect which also brother of royal priest Danghyang Nirartha was summoned form East Java to officiate the ceremony.

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In Balinese drama performance social and political critics have been an indispensable part of a performance. Social and political critic can be found in all kind of traditional drama performance, from Wayang Kulit (shadow puppet) to Drama Gong, from Arja (Balinese traditional opera) to Masked dance performance.

The inclusion of social and political critic in traditional drama performance is not a new invention. Since the first time shadow puppet was performed in the island of Bali in the 896 AD, during the reign of King Ugrasena, it has already incorporated some social and political critics in it. The critics usually come up in the conversation between the clown, between the clown and price, between spirit and god, between clown and demon, and between king and god.

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Rat infestation has become worldwide problem that happen in all parts of the world and no wonder every civilization has their own way in dealing with rat. If Germans have their Pied Piper of Hamelin, Balinese have their own way in dealing with rat infestation.

In Bali, rat is given an honorable title “Jero Ketut”. The word “jero” is a title for honorable man” while “ketut” is a name for the youngest of four siblings. This title is given to the rat since Balinese believe that rat is a sensitive animal that does not like to be treated disrespectfully. The older generation of Balinese usually forbade their juniors to swear or used dirty word to rat lest it will become more and more troublesome.

In dealing with rat infestation Balinese usually make a small offering (segehan) which is presented to the rat so and request it to go away from their house compound. In Tabanan regency, when thousands of rats attack the rice fields, the farmers of Tabanan will hold a Nangluk Merana ceremony.

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Attending a cremation ceremony for Balinese is not just a matter showing taking a part in the cremation but also cleansing the mind and body soon after attending the cremation ceremony. When Balinese arrive at home after attending a cremation, they will go right to the kitchen and take a ladle of water then throw it upward so that the water gets on the kitchen roof while Balinese stand under the roof waiting the water to fall down. A second later that water falls out wetting their heads and faces. Sometimes, after that they also should enter the kitchen again; after this ritual they are allowed to enter other structures in the house compound.

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What color should I wear when attending a ceremony? Sometimes, can be a tricky for a Balinese, when it comes to traditional dress for attending a ceremony, color sometimes matter. For attending temple ceremony white is the most popular color especially for men, for attending a cremation black is still a major choice, while for attending other kind of ceremony such as wedding, tooth filling, birthday, etc, for men Batik is reign supreme as for women bright color kebaya is welcomed.

The above-mentioned colors are not a dead set you can find in some area some people wears white clothes in cremation ceremony, or white clothes in wedding ceremony. Debates on what is the appropriate colors use in certain ceremony are often occur from time to time.

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