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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I Gusti Nyoman Lempad might be the one of the most talented artists ever born in Bali. He was a master craftsman, designing and building monumental gates, carving temples and palace decorations, making barong mask, cremation towers, nagabandas (papier-mache dragon for royal cremation) and above all painting. He was also well versed in old Balinese literature.

Title : The Dagger Attack On Rangda
Artist : I Gusti Nyoman Lempad
Media : Ink and tempera on papper
Size : 24 x 33 cm
Year : 1939s
Courtesy : Neka Art Museum

I Gusti Nyoman Lempad was born in Bedulu in 1862, he was multi-talented as is father who was also excellent craftsman, architect, and painter. In 1875, his talent offended his patron and fled to Peliatan then to the protection of the court in Ubud; Lempad was 13 at this time. He left behind in Bedulu an important legacy as architect and sculptor. He was an excellent sculptor who reputed in particular to have introduced the unfinished style of in stone sculpture, in this style the characters are roughly hewn and bereft of all iconographic traits.

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