Royal Plebon-Bali

The Ubud Royal Family will hold this ceremony for the bodies of two prominent elders of the family:

TJOKORDA GDE AGUNG SUYASA, who was head of the Ubud Royal Family and the leader of the traditional community in Ubud since 1976, and
TJOKORDA GEDE RAKA, who was a senior office in the police force in Denpasar until his retirement in 1992

The effigy of GUNG NIANG RAKA, whose body was cremated in a smaller ceremony in December soon after she died, will also now be given a full cremation ceremony.

The cremation procession and associated ceremonies are important rituals in the Hindu rites of passage. The bodies of the deceased will be carried through the streets of Ubud by thousands of local people on top of a nine-tiered tower called ‘bade’. The procession will be accompanied by an elaborately decorated and venerated bull effigy (Lembu) and a mythical dragon-like creature (Naga Banda), with a five meter-long tail. The naga is reserved for only the elders of the Royal family and is thus seldom seen in cremation ceremonies.

Ngaben is the principle funeral rite in Bali’s Hindu society which aims to return the remains of the deceased to the elements from which all living things are created and to release the soul from all ties to this life.

cheers

jeff
www.jefriaries.com

by jefri aries at Sat Jul 12 06:47:46 UTC 2008 (ed. Jul 20 2008) Jakarta, Indonesia | Bookmark this | Digg this |