'Entas-entas' cremation ritual helps souls reach heaven

Yoni Astuti, Contributor, Probolinggo, East Java

While Balinese Hindus perform Ngaben, cremation rituals for the dead, Tenger Hindus in East Java call similar rituals Entas- entas.

Entas-entas, meaning "to raise" or "to lift", is a ritual to help the deceased's soul reach heaven. During the ritual, a small statue called petra, made out of leaves and flowers, is prepared to symbolize the dead person.

In a recent ritual, a Tengger family in Jetak village, Sukapura in Probolinggo near Mount Bromo, performed the rite for 11 family members who had died between seven months and 50 years ago.

During the ritual, each petra was placed in a clay pot containing money and cigarettes as provisions for the soul's journey. Various offerings like rice, sugar, coconuts, bananas, vegetables, meat dishes and snacks were placed near the petra, while family members of the dead sat in front of the petra, their heads covered with long white cloth.

A Dukun, a traditional priest, started the ritual by chanting special prayers, asking for the souls' sins to be forgiven and their paths to heaven smoothed.

Afterward, food was symbolically cooked, representing supplies for the souls in their journey to heaven. The fuel used in the stove is the seeds of the castor oil plant.

The next ritual was intended to remove negative aspects of the souls by using fire, ducks, chickens and needles. In the process, hair tips of each family member and of the petra were then burnt. The dukun then sews the cloth covering the entire family members' heads and he also sews the tips of each petra. Then, a duck and a chicken eat the rice placed on the heads of family members. The duck and chicken are then flown over the ritual site to remove and discard evil things.

The last part of the ritual was picking up the petra and turning it clockwise three times accompanied by prayers and mentioning the name of each soul being purified before the petra was finally placed in a bamboo basket. The family members then removed the white cloth covering their heads and flapped it to make the souls depart immediately.

Now that the souls were on their way to heaven, each petra was dressed up and taken by the family to a site for cremation.

Before being set on fire, the clothes covering the petra were taken off. The ashes were not disposed of into river or the sea, but left at the site.

During the Entas-entas ritual, apart from souls of the recently dead, souls of other family members are also invited to "witness" the rituals. To symbolize their presence, petra statuettes are also made and clothed before finally being burnt.

The Tengger chief priest, Suja'i, said the Entas-entas ritual contained a similar meaning to the Ngaben ritual, though performed according to Tengger customs. After the rituals, the soul of a dead person is believed to be perfectly purified.

Entas-entas can be performed more than once for the same soul, because many family members would like to express their deep devotion to their loved one.