the Ubud Royal Family will hold a royal cremation ceremony on July 15, 2008 (the day after I arrive in Bali) for the bodies of two prominent elders and effigy of one member of the family, who was cremated in December soon after her death:TJOKORDA GDE AGUNG SUYASA, head of the Ubud Royal Family and the leader of the traditional community in Ubud since 1976
TJOKORDA GEDE RAKA, a senior officer in the police force in Denpasar until his retirement in 1992
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
My experience of funerals in the United States have been somber family affairs. A stranger to the family would never dream of intruding. According to what I've heard, death rituals are much more public in Bali, and the Indonesian Ministry of Culture has issued an open invitation to tourists to attend the grand cremation ceremony in Bali next month.
The following description of the ceremony is adapted from the Ministry of Culture website. I have added pictures, links for more information, and italics to non-English words:
"The cremation procession and associated ceremonies are important rituals in the [Balinese] 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.
Ngaben is comprised of many rituals, culminating in the burning of the corpse in an animal-shaped sarcophagus, as well as the burning of the cremation tower (bade) whose sole purpose is to transport the corpse from home to the cremation grounds.
The Ngaben is not a sad event, it can even be happy, it is a way to make the spirit of the dead happy, and to avoid disturbing him by crying. However it requires an enormous amount of time, energy, and money! All of the relatives and friends share the cost but often months, or even years, will be required to gather enough money and to make the mountains of offerings involved. One solution is for ordinary community members to join the funerals of wealthier individuals of high caste, or to organize ngaben massal (mass cremation) among the villagers, to reduce the costs.
In Ubud, such 'mass' cremations are held only every 3-5 years. On 15 July, 2oo8 three members of the Royal Family of Ubud will be cremated along with approximately 70 other deceased from the local community.
This ceremony is very much a public one and visitors are welcome but everyone is reminded to dress appropriately, with legs and arms covered, and to abide by any instructions and announcements."
Video of a cremation ceremony
Images
Top: Image: "Bade," the pagoda-like tower in which to body of the deceased is processed to the cremation ground. Photo courtesy of Sidarta Wijaya (http://blog.baliwww.com/arts-culture/1330/)
Middle: Bull effigy or "lembu." Photo courtesy of I Wayan Wardika's Flickr site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62565299@N00/2443194960/)
Bottom: The serpent deity or "Naga Banda." Photo courtesy of Jelantik's Flickr site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelantik/260500635/)
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