Went to the Cremation Ceremony to Cool Off

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Today was our first official day of touring.  We did a number of things but in my opinion the most interesting was something we happened to do by accident.  One of our van drivers told Choy that he knew of a Hindu cremation ceremony going on in Denpasar and did he think the group would be interested in seeing it? 

We drove to a beautiful private family compound.  Out on the street we saw the colorful cremation tower into which the body would later be placed and carried to the cremation site.  It turns out that each of these towers is completely hand made and costs quite a bit of money to produce.  This particular family, we were told, was fairly wealthy and related to the royal family of Denpasar, but some people wait years after an individual’s death to hold a cremation ceremony.  Yes, I know what you’re wondering.  Indeed, a person may be buried for several years until the family has enough money to hold a cremation ceremony.  Hindus believe that until a person is cremated their soul cannot be released to heaven.  So even though it may take a while, every Hindu must be cremated.

We were invited by the family to come inside the family compound and walk around. Gamelan music was being played by a group of musicians.  The body was laid out on a large raised bed and covered in a shining gold and black material.  We were all careful not to get too close out of respect to the family and not to enter private spaces.  For me, this was the highlight of our day.

Later we visited a market in Denpasar and saw all kinds of foods and fabrics being sold.  Cliff added some Balinese clothing to his wardrobe.  And last, we drove a long distance to visit a water temple situated on a cliff on the far south side of the island.  Choy warned us that the monkeys living at the temple could be quite aggressive, so we all took off our sunglasses (despite the intense sunlight) and jewelry for fear of having them snatched.  

I haven't mentioned how incredibly hot and humid it is here.  By the end of the day we were exhausted and soaked to the skin.  We decided to return to the hotel early and had dinner at restaurant near the hotel.  Tomorrow we fly to Java to visit the ancient Buddhist site of Borobudur.