Ngaben or Cremation Ceremony in Bali 

    Bali With The World, INDONESIA. One of the cultures in Bali is Ngaben or cremation ceremony that has been known by many people in Indonesia and the world. But not many of them know the meanings and the aims of this ceremony. Ngaben ceremony is one of the ceremonies held by Hindus in Bali and it includes as Pitra Yadnya ceremony that means a ceremony dedicated to ancestors.

    According to Indonesia Wikipedia, the Ngaben ceremony has several aims. Conceptually, it has meanings and aims as follows: by burning the corpse or its symbol then drifting the ash to the river or sea, it means to release the soul from the shackles of worldliness. So it will be easier to unite with God. 

    Burning the corpse is also the ceremonial series to return all elements of Panca Maha Bhuta (5 elements of the human gross body) to each origin in order not to block the journey of Atma (soul) to Sunia Loka. For the family side, the ceremony is a symbolization that the family side has been sincere, and let the person concerned go.  

    In Ngaben ceremony, there is Ngaben Massal that means the process of cremation done by more than one party, or it can be said by a village simultaneously in the appointed time. Ngaben Massal in banjar/village is usually held every 5 years. The people consider this way is more efficient and economical because it spends less cost that they can help each other in preparing the ceremony. 

    There are 5 kinds of Ngaben or cremation ceremonies, they are;

1. Ngaben Sawa Wedana. It is a cremation ceremony that involves the corpse still intact (without being buried). It is normally held within 3-7 days counted from the day the person died.

2. Ngaben Asti Wedana. It is a cremation ceremony that involves the corpse skeleton that had ever been buried. The ceremony is accompanied by Ngagah ceremony as a ceremony which digs back the grave of the person concerned for later to do ceremony to the remaining bones. 

3. Swasta. It is a cremation ceremony without involving the corpse or corpse skeleton. This is usually held because of several things, like dead abroad or die in far away, the corpse is not found, and the others. In this ceremony, the corpse is normally symbolized by sandalwood that is painted and written with the magic script as the gross of Atma (soul) of the person concerned.

4. Ngelungah. It is a cremation ceremony for the kid who hasn’t had teeth yet.

5. Warak Kruron. It is a cremation ceremony for the miscarriage baby.

          So, that is about Ngaben or cremation ceremony as one of the cultures in Bali and must be implemented as the meanings and aims of Ngaben or cremation ceremony. 


Reference: https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngaben 

Writer and Editor: Padma Negara 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Saba Beach, an Interesting Beach in Gianyar, Bali        Bali With The World, INDONESIA . Saba beach is a good and beautiful beach located in Saba village, Blahbatuh district, Gianyar regency. It is a black sandy beach which has beautiful water. Saba beach is located between Purnama beach and Keramas beach. Purnama beach is at the west, and Keramas beach is at the east of Saba beach.       Many people come to this place, especially on Sunday. People are usually jogging and relaxing on this beach. Sometimes, there are also some tourists both domestic and foreign tourists coming to this place. They have holidays, take photos for pre-wedding, and other things. There are some villas around this beach where tourists can stay. There is also a place of horse riding rental  that tourists can rent to do horse riding along the beach.       In Saba beach, there is a temple where the people usually pray and do a ceremony. At certain times, there is also a big ceremony that usually called Melasti
Read more
Image
Indonesia as a Big Country in the World, and  the  Origin of Its Name       Bali With The World, INDONESIA.  Indonesia is one of the countries in South-East Asia and it’s a country that has thousands of islands that consists of big and small islands. The capital city of Indonesia is Jakarta. Indonesia gained its independence on August 17 th  1945 who is proclaimed by Bung Karno as Indonesia's first President with Bung Hatta as Indonesia's first Vice Preident.       According to Indonesia Wikipedia, the word “Indonesia” comes from Ancient Greek, they are “Indus” refers to the Indus river in India and “Nesos” means “Island”. So, the word “Indonesia” means “Indian islands”. It refers to equations between those two nations (Indonesia and India). In 1850, an England ethnologist, George Windsor Earl initially proposed the name Indunesia and Malayunesia for residents of “Hindi Islands or Melayu Islands”.       Since 1990, the name of Indonesia became more general in educations or acad
Read more