'Ngerit' mass cremation rite liberates dead souls

Text and photos by I Wayan Juniartha

GIANYAR, Bali (JP): Even the scorching sun had no power to stop dozens of youths in Tulikup village, which lies on the border between Gianyar and Klungkung regencies, some 27 kilometers east of Denpasar, from holding a mass cremation ritual.

Dressed in traditional Balinese black sarongs with black-and- white checkered wraps and dark colored shirts, they kept moving onward, rhythmically, while carrying a heavy, golden colored bade -- a towering structure used to carry a human remains that is going to be cremated -- on their shoulders.

Several meters in front of them, another group carried a different bade. It was taller than the others and was lavishly decorated. Its multi-layered roof indicated that the deceased belonged to an upper-caste family.

At 12 noon, when the fierce sun glared down mercilessly on the main asphalt road, around 20 bade of various sizes, styles and colors were being carried along by the villagers heading to a local cemetery, Sema Naga, on the western outskirts of the village.

"These bade belong to our banjar Tegal. There are dozens more bade from every banjar in this village," a local elderly explained.

A banjar is the smallest self-governing social organization in customary-law villages (desa adat) in the traditional hierarchy of power. Tulikup consists of at least five different banjar including Tegal, Kembengan, Pande, Menak and Kaja Kauh.

On July 25, Tulikup conducted a mass ngaben (cremation) ceremony locally known as ngerit. During the ceremony, at least 60 sawa (corpses) were cremated.

Since it was a communal cremation, the preparations involved all the members of the village's five banjar. All of the costs were divided evenly among the participating families.

"Ngerit was introduced in 1963 to enable every Hindu family, even the poorest, in Bali to carry out a cremation ceremony," respected Hindu scholar Ketut Wiana explained.

Wiana added that their spiritual leaders at that time simplified the offerings and rituals of ngaben, while maintaining the sanctity and the essence of the ceremony.

Ngaben is primarily aimed at liberating the deceased soul from "the prison" of the earthly body which, according to Hindu belief, consists of five natural elements: earth, water, wind, fire and air. By cremating the deceased body, the Hindus believe that the earthly body is returned to its natural source and, at the same time, the soul's journey to liberation is speeded up.

Holding individual ngaben ceremonies is not cheap and would cost a family anywhere from tens of millions of rupiah to hundreds of millions of rupiah. In a few rare cases, for instance a royal family's cremation, it could cost up to a billion rupiah.

On the other hand, taking part in a ngerit ceremony will only cost a family somewhere between two and five million rupiah.

"Ngerit also serves to strengthen the sense of togetherness among members of the banjar and the whole community in a desa adat," Wiana said.

This mass ceremony also helps those involved work together while at the same time improving their spirit of cooperation and mutual respect, he added.

Punk teenagers

The ceremony in Tulikup might be just like any ngaben ceremony in any village in Bali. But the presence of a group of teenagers who came in style surprised many spectators at the ceremony.

Instead of wearing the traditional udeng headgear, they were all sporting colorful punk hairstyles ranging from menacing red to sleek silver-brown and glaring green.

Unlike other groups, while carrying the bade they chanted "Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole," a Spanish chant usually heard during soccer games or bull fights.

"Wake up Kadek Moyo, wake up," they joyously yelled.

Viewers soon learned that Kadek Moyo, a name that was also emblazoned on the teenagers' dark-blue shirts, was a local youth whose remains were being carried by the teenagers on their shoulders.

Moyo, known to be loyal to his friends, was run down by an out-of-control truck some two years ago while taking his little sister to school.

"This is our way of showing everybody how much we miss him, and how we loved him dearly. We have to make a very memorable Ngaben for him, one that no one will forget," a bade carrier with green-colored hair said emotionally.

They were undoubtedly successful. Kadek Moyo's bade -- along with its unique carriers -- would be the talk of the village long after the procession was over.

At the cemetery, the teenagers tried to keep their spirits up as they moved Kadek Moyo's remains from the bade onto the back of a giant wooden effigy of a black ox known as petulangan (the structure on which the remains would be cremated).

Some families used black or red oxen as their petulangan, while others used mythical winged-lions or simple white, wooden caskets.

The fire finally engulfed each and every petulangan in the cemetery. Even the hottest flames and the most beautiful petulangan could not distract the people of Tulikup from the fact that death is the inevitable end of every living thing and that the ceremony was designed to make the journey to heaven much faster and easier.