Ngaben, also known asPitra Yadnya,Pelebon orcremation ceremony, is theHindu funeral ritual ofBali, Indonesia.[3][4][5] A Ngaben is performed to release the soul of a dead person so that it can enter the upper realm where it can wait for it to be reborn or become liberated from the cycles ofrebirths.[1][6] The Balinese Hindu theology holds that there is a competition between evil residents of the lower realm to capture this soul, and a proper cremation enhances the chance that it may reach the upper realm.[1]
A quick Ngaben is preferred, but usually too expensive.[1][7] In Balinese culture, people go through an interim state where they bury the dead for a while usually nearPura Prajapati, pool funds and cremate many recently dead on the same day in an elaborate community-based Ngaben ceremony.[1][8][9] Once the families are financially ready, they select an auspicious day, makebade (coffins) to carry the dead, and announce the event in the village. The families also make apatulangan to cremate the body in,[7] which is either alembu (bull ormythical animal-shaped bamboo-wood-paper coffin) to burn with the dead, or a woodenwadah (temple-like structure).[3][1] Once the corpse is ready for the cremation ground, it is washed, dressed in Balinese attire, family and friends pay their last goodbye with prayers and the mourners take it for cremation. They carry the corpses with rites, dressed in traditional attire, accompanied withgamelan music and singing, to thekuburan (cremation grounds).[1] If the path passes through major road crossings, the coffin is rotated three times to confuse the evil residents of the lower realm.[1][3]
At the cremation ground, the corpse is placed into the bull-shapedlembu or temple-shapedwadah, final hymns are recited and the cremation pyre lit.[2] While the corpse burns, the Balinese music team plays thebeleganjur music, a battle song symbolizing the soul's fight with evil underworld to reach the worry-free upper realm.[1][10] Twelve days after the cremation, the families collect the ashes, fill it inside coconut shell, carry it to nearby ocean or sea to return the remains back to the elements.[1]
