Marking traditional loyalties

I Wayan Juniartha, Denpasar, Bali

Hundreds of Balinese women walked solemnly along the waterline in a long procession.

Their traditional white and yellow garments created a stunning panorama against the natural backdrop of the deep blue ocean and sky. It was a majestic sight that awed many Westerners who had flocked to the island's prime tourist beach at Kuta that morning.

On their heads the women carried beautifully decorated puspa lingga, effigies of their respective ancestors' souls.

At the tail of the procession, hundreds of men shouldered a bukur, an eleven-tiered, pagoda-like structure. Five puspa lingga were placed on the top of the bukur. The effigies belonged to the noble family of Puri Agung Jro Kuta, the chief sponsor and organizer of the ritual.

After 500 meters, the procession ended in front of the Segara Temple, a sacred place of worship dedicated to Waruna, the Lord of the Ocean.

Later on, Hindu high priest Ida Pedanda Gede Putra Telabah commenced the nganyut ritual, aimed at surrendering the souls into the caring hand of Waruna.

The ritual reached a climax when most of the participants carried their respective puspa lingga to the ocean and threw them into the watery embrace of the waves. Some devotees hired several jukung (traditional boats with outriggers) to transport the puspa lingga a few hundred meters offshore before hurling them into the calm sea.

Elaborate ceremony

The nganyut ritual was one of the highlights of the Karya Penileman Baligia Punggel ceremony, known simply as baligia, held recently by the Puri Agung Jro Kuta family, traditional rulers of an area currently known as Panti, Gerenceng, Belong, Balun, Dukuh Tangkas and Tagtag, in the western part of Denpasar.

The elaborate ceremony required months of preparation and comprised at least 20 different rituals involving five high priests and thousands of participants.

The ceremony commenced on June 1, when selected members of the house of Jro Kuta made a pilgrimage to several major temples in Bali to present pejati offerings, seeking the blessing of the island's deities for the success of the ceremony.

The following day, a high priest officiated at nyukat karang and bumi suddha rituals in the spacious outer yard of Jro Kuta palace. These were aimed at consecrating the designated ground, where most of the rituals would take place.

Ever since that day, thousands of people worked day and night in and around the palace for each step of the ceremony.

Function of 'baligia'

The baligia was held to release the soul from the subtler bonds of thoughts, memories, emotional attachments and, most importantly, delusions on the existence of self.

"Balinese Hinduism embodies a series of post-death rituals carried out solely for the purpose of liberating the soul from a variety of worldly bonds that will hamper its spiritual journey," Hindu scholar I Ketut Wiana said.

One of the rituals, the well-known ngaben, releases the soul from the bonds of panca maha bhuta (five natural elements of earth, water, fire, wind and ether) by cremating the deceased's corporeal body.

Ngaben elevates the status of the soul from Preta to Pitara.

"The ngaben, however, does not release the soul from the finer bond of immaterial emotions, such as feelings of love and attachment the soul's possessor still has toward its children or relatives," Wiana said.

In baligia, the finer bonds and the body are represented by the puspa lingga, constructed by the family using a selection of materials, such as the leaves of beringin (Ficus bengalensis) and selasih (Ocimum bacilicum) flowers, yellow bamboo and small pieces of sandalwood, and golden plates. The puspa lingga is decorated with fresh, gold-colored flowers and jewelry.

Before dawn on July 12, all the puspa lingga were cremated in the prelina ritual in the palace's outer yard. The ashes were finely ground before being placed inside a specially prepared coconut shell engraved with sacred Onkara lettering.

A new puspa lingga was constructed, with the coconut shell as the basic element. It was this puspa that was later released into the ocean.

Two days later, the participating families made a nyegara- gunung pilgrimage to extend their gratitude to the island's spiritual rulers, which had bestowed their blessings and offered protection for the ceremony.

Upon returning home, each of the families constructed another puspa lingga. At midnight precisely on July 14, the puspa was cremated at the family temple and the ash was later buried next to the rong tiga, the ancestors' shrine.

"By that time, the soul has been elevated into the semi-god status of Dewa Pitara," Wiana said.

Traditional loyalty

A baligia is generally more complicated and expensive to hold than a ngaben. That is why a large majority of Balinese families opted for ngiring, a kind of mass-baligia, with the noble family as chief organizer and financial backer.

"The baligia was held for 138 souls, of which only five are sameton agung (close relatives) of Jro Kuta, including our respected elder, Anak Agung Ayu Ketut Mugluk, who passed away six months ago," leader of the noble house I Gusti Ngurah Jaka Pratidnya said.

The rest were sameton paman (distant relatives), pekandelan (descendants of the elite palace guards), wargi (descendants of palace officials and vassals) and braya (descendants of palace subjects).

A contribution of Rp 2.5 million was required from each participating family to cover the costs of the ceremony.

"However, that is not essential. Many less well-off families have taken part in the ceremony without having to provide any financial contribution. It is an obligation of the puri to assist them," Jaka Pratidnya stressed.

Puri Agung Jro Kuta allocated a staggering Rp 600 million to finance the entire ceremony.

"That is nothing compared with the energy put in by thousands of people to ensure the ceremony is a success. I'm deeply touched that even in modern times they still display such devoted loyalty to this noble house," he said.