As I left the market, taxi drivers scrambled to offer rides to anywhere. I use the term “taxi” loosely here, because anyone with a car or scooter, and some free time, considers himself a driver for hire.
Today there happened to be a traditional Balinese cremation ceremony for 2 people who recently passed. At least 10 “drivers” advertised this event & offered their services as transportation and guide.
Bali still has something of a caste system- which appears mostly to celebrate the upper castes, without making much ado about the lowest caste.
It seemed a unique opportunity to see a cultural event special to Bali, so I grabbed Jessica & off we went. I’m not trying to make funeral processions my window into Indonesian culture,,, so it’s funny that I have attended two within 3 days. It was worth the effort to get there though. $20 bought us a driver/guide for 5 hours.
20 minutes up the road, in ‘Mas’ village, the Balinese funeral ceremony was about to begin. It looked like a party, or celebration. The whole town poured out into the streets.
Proper etiquette for being there was wearing a sarong, so Jessica & I bought 2. There were several German, French & Australian tourists there, but as far as I could tell, Jessica and I were the only two who spoke bahasa Indonesia. We quickly made new friends.
Hindus believe in re-incarnation, so if a person was good in this life, they will be born again as someone or something strong, wise and good,, in life-cycles ever approaching heaven- until they don’t need to be re-born anymore. The opposite happens for bad people.
To help, during the transition from one life to the next, many offerings are made, as well as prayers and superstitious rituals. A roast pig & duck, along with a feast of smaller things accompanied the deceased into their funeral pyres. Also, monsters are known to travel in straight lines here… so at every intersection, the body is turned 3 times, so monsters cannot follow into the next life. Consequently, there is often a wall you must walk around at the front door of Balinese homes, for this same reason… so I hear.
One of the dead was a holy man, who was carried in the big, elaborate,,, float?? and cremated inside the bull. The normal guy was carried from his home in the smaller of the 2 floats, and cremated in a smaller fire.
There was music the whole way (a marching gamelan band), and a crowd atmosphere something like St. Patricks Day and the Pamplona running of the bulls… as a proper send-off & hopeful re-birth for two local men. Not at all like the somber mood of an American funeral.
Today there happened to be a traditional Balinese cremation ceremony for 2 people who recently passed. At least 10 “drivers” advertised this event & offered their services as transportation and guide.
Bali still has something of a caste system- which appears mostly to celebrate the upper castes, without making much ado about the lowest caste.
It seemed a unique opportunity to see a cultural event special to Bali, so I grabbed Jessica & off we went. I’m not trying to make funeral processions my window into Indonesian culture,,, so it’s funny that I have attended two within 3 days. It was worth the effort to get there though. $20 bought us a driver/guide for 5 hours.
20 minutes up the road, in ‘Mas’ village, the Balinese funeral ceremony was about to begin. It looked like a party, or celebration. The whole town poured out into the streets.
Proper etiquette for being there was wearing a sarong, so Jessica & I bought 2. There were several German, French & Australian tourists there, but as far as I could tell, Jessica and I were the only two who spoke bahasa Indonesia. We quickly made new friends.
Hindus believe in re-incarnation, so if a person was good in this life, they will be born again as someone or something strong, wise and good,, in life-cycles ever approaching heaven- until they don’t need to be re-born anymore. The opposite happens for bad people.
To help, during the transition from one life to the next, many offerings are made, as well as prayers and superstitious rituals. A roast pig & duck, along with a feast of smaller things accompanied the deceased into their funeral pyres. Also, monsters are known to travel in straight lines here… so at every intersection, the body is turned 3 times, so monsters cannot follow into the next life. Consequently, there is often a wall you must walk around at the front door of Balinese homes, for this same reason… so I hear.
One of the dead was a holy man, who was carried in the big, elaborate,,, float?? and cremated inside the bull. The normal guy was carried from his home in the smaller of the 2 floats, and cremated in a smaller fire.
There was music the whole way (a marching gamelan band), and a crowd atmosphere something like St. Patricks Day and the Pamplona running of the bulls… as a proper send-off & hopeful re-birth for two local men. Not at all like the somber mood of an American funeral.
posted by jonathan adventures at 6:39 AM
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