Royal cremation

mrsgabry

Here is another info for everybody interested: "Royal cremation ceremonie will be held in Klungkung on 29 of june."

Markit

It was spectacular... and astonishingly few westerners there. Wonder what all you 20,000 expats living on this island were doing? Not to mention the millions of tourists - probably all on Poppies Lane buying up as many knock-off Gucci handbags as they could get their hot, sweaty hands on. I'm always astonished to read on the various social media how much everyone loves Bali culture but there's never anyone there when it's happening... go figure.

Gozer

I was there but it was my wifes great grandma... sort of... so I had to go. It was really impressive. Interestingly the King declared that would be the last royal funeral they were going to do. It is just too expensive.

Gozer

Ummm... I doubt they will stop dying. He meant that it was going to be the last royal funeral that they would have. They are going to scale it back to a more normal level. That they could not afford to continue having these over the top cremation ceremonies. I remember that when I was told how much the funeral cost him I was shocked. I was another cremation, this time for my wife's uncle. Everyone one there was wearing the traditional clothing and a group of white people just walked in wearing their tank tops and surf shorts. All of the people attending the cremation were very offended. Not that they were there, but that they were wearing street clothes.

DenpasarHouse

I've been to my fair share of cremations, and in defence of the tourists and arty-farty types, they can be pretty interesting. While other cultures have cremations, these ceremonies are unique to Bali, you can understand the attraction. Personally, I've always been amazed at how easy going the Balinese are about them, I've seen some pretty appalling behaviour from tourists that didn't even raise an eyebrow from the Balinese. I've seen that exact same scenario with tourists just walking in under-dressed and later when I asked my Balinese friends about it, nobody even cared. On an unrelated note, in my Balinese wife's village they don't actually burn the bodies, they just get buried. However, they do take a roll call of the entire village over a loud speaker and anyone that doesn't attend gets fined. Not the most edifying or endearing of Balinese customs. I'd be interested to know if this was common in other areas of Bali. The Balinese (and possibly Indonesian) culture puts a big emphasis on attendance, but not very much on sincere emotion. It's the same at our Banjar's monthly Kerja Bakti. 90% of people turn up, push a few leaves around in a circle (if that), sign the attendance sheet and leave. I mean, when I push my leaf around in a circle, I do it with real conviction!

JohnnyCool

[QUOTE]"...in my Balinese wife's village they don't actually burn the bodies, they just get buried..."[/QUOTE] It's possible that the people in your wife's village couldn't afford a cremation at the time. This happens quite a lot. Bodies can be buried for years then dug up and piggy-backed, so to speak, onto a shared cremation. Makes it more affordable for those less well off in the village. Many areas in Bali have cemeteries. In or around Balinese villages, they can be regarded as "temporary holding grounds". Either that, or the village is comprised of Bali Aga people, like Trunyan on Lake Batur. In Trunyan, they don't even bury the bodies. They're left to decay under special trees that supposedly have the ability to eliminate the stench.

DenpasarHouse

JohnnyCool wroteIt's possible that the people in your wife's village couldn't afford a cremation at the time. This happens quite a lot. Bodies can be buried for years then dug up and piggy-backed, so to speak, onto a shared cremation. Makes it more affordable for those less well off in the village. Many areas in Bali have cemeteries. In or around Balinese villages, they can be regarded as "temporary holding grounds". Either that, or the village is comprised of Bali Aga people, like Trunyan on Lake Batur. In Trunyan, they don't even bury the bodies. They're left to decay under special trees that supposedly have the ability to eliminate the stench.

Yeah, I initially thought it was something like that as well but after checking with multiple people it's definitely true. They don't burn the body, they just bury it. However, they do burn a symbol of the person. Possibly some personal effects, I haven't been able to get a firm answer on what the symbol is, but I can 100% guarantee that it's not a part/parts of the body. They're definitely not Bali aga, they just tell me that not all Balinese villages follow the same customs.