Ngaben: A Ritual Undergoes Reform
Tuesday, February 19, 2002
Today, the Balinese cremation ritual of ngaben need not be identified with geni (fire), nor should it cost millions of rupiah. Having been reformed to assume a more democratic character, it is now an affordable and festive event. A priest of the common people and one of the "upper class" can now jointly lead the ceremony. To find out more on how this democratic ngaben is performed, TEMPO reporter Seno Joko Suyono, assisted by correspondent Made Mustika, traveled last week to Pujungan village in Tabanan, Bali, where a mass ngaben took place. The following is his report:
arsip tempo : 173027363136.
There was no smell of a burnt body, no flames burning the petulangan, the green cow effigy containing the remains. There was no thick smoke wafting high, enveloping a luxurious bade decorated with boma, a mask of an evil giant. There was no rattling sound coming out of the wooden Naga Banda, the effigy of a hundred-meter long dragon, as we would imagine a ngaben might be, based on postcards from Bali.
This was not the grand ngaben of the Bali
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