Author Ktut Tantri stirs up controversy even in death

Author Ktut Tantri stirs up controversy even in death

By Putu Wirata

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): "I wish to return to Bali, I wish to be
cremated in Bali in the Balinese way," Ktut Tantri once
said.

Her final wish has once again thrown the memory of the
Scotswoman into controversy, just as so much of her life was the
subject of intense, often heated speculation.

The author of Revolt in Paradise, a best-selling romantic
autobiography detailing her exploits during Indonesia's fight for
independence, died at the age of 89 on July 27 in a Sydney old
people's home.

Timothy Lindsey, her friend, biographer and executor of her
estate, said last month that she had been cremated and her ashes
would be taken to Bali for a traditional ngaben Hindu ceremony.

Tantri, born Muriel Pearson, knew Bali well. She established
one of the first hotels along Kuta in the 1930s and became
friends with Anak Agung Nura of Puri Bangli, who later gave her
the name Ktut Tantri.

Other foreigners have had the honor of the rite, including
Dutch painter Rudolf Bonnet in 1978. But the issue of providing
the same ceremony for Tantri has splintered Bali's intellectual
and religious communities.

"Personally, it is clear to me that, in her own testament,
Tantri not only wished to have a rite performed for her, but was
also willing to profess Hinduism. Except for performance of the
rite, the whole thing is settled," said Nura, a deputy chairmen
of the central board of the Indonesian Hindu Council.

There is dissent among other members, centered on Ktut
Tantri's conversion to Hinduism, the necessity of finding a
Balinese Hindu family to sponsor the ceremony and the ethics of a
priest performing the rite for someone who was not one of his
flock.

Ida Bagus Agastia, another deputy chairman of the council and
lecturer on ancient Balinese literature, argues the rite is not
simply the cremation of a dead body. He says the return of the
soul to the seas and mountains before being laid to rest at the
family worship place is part of a final expression of filial
duty.

At issue is that Ktut Tantri died with no immediate next of
kin.

I Gusti Ngurah Nala, rector of Hindu Bali University, believes
it is important to establish Tantri's links to a clan. This
extremely intricate system in Bali is subdivided into groups,
which branch off into smaller subgroups. Each has common places
of worship.

Others have voiced concerns over Tantri's profession of faith.

Former director general of Hinduism and Buddhism guidance, I
Gusti Agung Gde Putra, now a lecturer at Denpasar Hindu
University, was quoted by Nusa Tenggara daily earlier this month
as saying that Tantri would have had to have gone through the
formal ceremony for converting to Hinduism.

"If someone has undergone this rite, it means acceptance of
Shiva as God," Gde Putra said. He said it should be ascertained
what Tantri understood by the rite -- was it merely a cremation
ceremony, which would pose no ethical quandary, or a full
observance in accordance with Hindu tenets?

"If efforts continue to carry out Tantri's last wish, we will
have to see if there is a Hindu priest with the courage to
perform it," he said.

A priest gives the soul of a dead person holy water, the
spiritual passport into the hereafter. By strict definition, he
should only perform the rite for his faithful. A priest who
performs the ceremony for others risks being faulted for
contravening established practices.

These ethical dilemmas sometimes puzzle the Balinese
themselves. There are conflicting views on how to classify a
convert to the religion within a clan or family group.

The late Ida Bagus Mantra, a devout scholar, once said that a
convert to Hinduism could be classified succinctly as a follower
who travels on the destined journey by sea.

Pino Confesa, Italian by birth, is a case in point. This
theater expert married a Balinese woman and converted to
Hinduism. To strengthen his new faith, he built a worship area in
his home and defined himself as a convert.

"The five elements of Panca Maha Bhutain Hinduism center on
nature, that someone returns to nature upon death," Confesa said.

Some religious elders concede secretly that Ktut Tantri could
receive the rite as long as there is a family willing to endorse
the ceremony. Even with the caveat that she would not be laid to
rest at a family worship place, the proposal is still
inflammatory enough that people are hesitant to endorse it
publicly.

Prickly, opinionated and given to holding grudges, Ktut Tantri
ended her life alone and almost forgotten except for Lindsey. Her
turbulent life may be over, but Ktut Tantri's desire to finally
rest in peace is still denied her.