Bali's Another Surprise

The day of dance performance was coming. Me and Doddy planned to stay in Adriaan Palar's house in Lodtunduh, as it's closer to go to Peliatan from there. So in the morning we went there with all preparations, cameras, lenses, etc. Still tired from last night shooting the rehearsal, Pak Adriaan's employee informed that the banjar (village) will have a mass cremation ceremony or "Ngaben" in Balinese language. What a surprise ! I was thrilled as I've never seen ngaben myself yet.

So I was dressed in Balinese clothes so I could get close to the cremation sites and photograph everything. We drove and walked to the main area, it's a very wide area with lots of trees and typical nature. It's still quite and people started to flock in.

There will be hundreds or a thousand people gather for this ngaben so drinks & food sellers also came looking for their luck.

This was my first ngaben experience so I felt kind of excited and curious about what would happen next.

Turned out that villagers and families slowly poured into the location gradually. Some walked and some with motor cycles. Tourists also came, using cars, or motor cycles as well.

In Bali you could expect tourists flock in for any cultural event especially if it's big. People from all over the world come in to see, feel, photograph, or document using film, from amateurs to commercial ones.

Families of the deceased each have their own place built specially for laying the offerings for the ngaben purpose. In ngaben most of the body normally had been buried for long time so only the remains (bones) are present, so the family members are not in mourning condition. But despite this, they always take their ceremonies seriously and religiously. And they must wear their traditional dress, men or women.