Cremation ceremony...

Ibu Ayu, the teacher for the women's dance Legong informed us that someone from her family/Banjar had passed and was having the cremation ceremony on Wednesday. So before we went to class we decided to stop in Ubud to check it out.

Turns out, the gentleman had been deceased for two months, and the family were waiting for an auspicious day to have the body cremated. He was a high priest, a very high status and widely respected man, and so the ceremony was a pretty big deal (it is customary to cremate the body in Bali).

I wasn't sure how I felt about going along, but when I got there I realised witnessing the spectacle seemed to be a part of paying my respects. The main street in Ubud was closed off- both tourists and locals filled the streets. Everyone had their phones and cameras out. I only took a few, it felt strange to be snapping away at, well, a funeral.

The procession down the street (note all the women in the white kebaya)...


And the men in their matching sarongs (the black and white symbols of good and evil)...


A high priest was in this float, which also held the body.


It looks like he's giving the crowd a wave, but he was sprinkling holy water and rice.


The music they were making was tremendous, unlike anything I'de heard in Bali. It was loud, percussive, aggressive, almost like the accompanying soundtrack for a Chinese Lion Dance. There were two opposing groups, crashing and banging at each other.

The parade stopped at the temple, where the body was transfered to the tower (where it would be burned) and offerings where made. I asked Nyoman about the procession later on, he said that the white cow was a very esteemed figure to be carried in, the 'vehicle', so to speak.


It was such a hot day, there were dragonflies encircling the pyre, hawkers where out in their dozens trying to sell sarongs, trinkets, beverages and ice creams. We didn't manage to stay to watch it go up, but on our way home a thick smoke covered most of Ubud (all the way to my room in Melati Cottages in Penestanan). It was such a strange turn of events. A huge theatrical event, like a festival parade or a scene from a medieval play on a pageant wagon.

I guess what I found unbearable were the tourists, many of them would have had no idea it was a cremation, it was so surreal seeing them running along following the commotion, iPads out filming the entire thing, ready to upload it on facebook to show all their friends.

Which, I guess, is what I've done just now. Off my high horse I get.