Bali has always been one of the great tourist destinations of the world for the diverse range of attractions that the island and its people have to offer. Bali is unique because it boasts some of the finest resorts and spas, five star food and dining, a great nightlife scene, tropical beauty, and the outrageous religious ceremonies. I was lucky enough (mainly through my relationship with Gusky and Karen) to be able to go and see first hand one of the largest religious ceremonies of the year.
I will try to explain a little of what the ceremony was about, but honestly it was a little too much for me to understand. The ceremony was for the deaths of family members of Gusky’s Girya (which is the family temple) and the village followers of the Girya. The Ida Bagus family that Gusky is part of is the largest on the island with over 1 million followers, so the ceremonies are usually huge and take place in downtown Denpesar. The bodies of the dead (approx. 300) were already cremated, but the symbolic souls still remained and were placed in Urns.
The ceremony started at Noon and the whole family (myself included) was inside the family temple and eating and praying for the souls of their family members and the souls of the follower’s family members outside the temple (which totaled over 8,000 people outside the compound). There was music and reading of Sanskrit and Balinese texts late until the night. There were offerings for the souls, which included an unbelievable amount of food, colorful sculptures made out of rice, and a sacrificed ox (see pics). Karen and I left around 4 pm, but Gusky did not leave.
The next morning Karen and I woke up at 430 am and drove back to the temple to find the same 8,000 people sitting outside the temple dressed in all white with shrines containing the family souls. The final part of the ceremony was to walk to the ocean and pour the symbolic remains into the ocean. The walk is over 5 km long and you have to take some of the busiest streets in Bali to get to the ocean in Sanur. Everyone flooded out of the temple and the procession was over 3 km long and took over 30 minutes from start to finish. The traffic jam was unbelievable! I felt terrible when we were walking by cars (we were at the end of the line) and seeing the faces of people that were in cars waiting for the ceremony to pass. It is an understandable fact of life of driving on the island, as there is usually a procession or ceremony every week that will block some form of traffic. The ceremony was beautiful and it was incredible to see the lengths that these people got to ensure that their dead relatives are able to have a proper death. I was very impressed.
Observation: There was also a 30 foot high shrine that was being carried by hand at the end of the procession by over 50 grown men. In front of the shrine was the “spotter” that carried a 30 foot high piece of bamboo with a beach towel wrapped around the top of it. What was his job? He was to run in front of the shrine and lift (manually) any powerlines that were in the way. Oh, how the world differs.
Also, go to the "pictures" tab on the website to see the full album.
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