To the Balinese only the soul is really important,
the body being simply an unclean object: no hysteria. Details
which would be considered weird and shocking elsewhere are regarded
naturally and with great indifference. I have seen a. corpse poked,
to help it bum, by relatives who were making loud jokes and scolding
the body because-it would not burn quickly enough, so they could
go home. When a man dies, his relatives, near and far, are expected
to assemble and bring-presents of food to the immediate family
of the deceased. It is believed' that the ghost of the dead man
will bring them bad luck if they are not informed within three
days. Automatically all relatives of the dead man- become impure,
sebel, and cannot enter the temples until the complete purification
rites have- be-en performed. This impurity extends to the house
and even to the entire village and the higher the Position of
the dead one, the greater the degree of un-cleanliness of the
village.
A sign of death in a house is the lamp called damar kurung, made
of white tissue paper stretched over a bamboo frame and hung outside
the gate. This lamp hangs from a bird also of bamboo and white
paper, which is suspended from the end of a tall bamboo pole,
high over the roofs. Every night while the corpse is in the house
the lamp is ht to show the way wandering soul. The corpse is placed
in one of the pavilions the house to await an auspicious day to
be treated and, for burial, or to be mummified if it is to be
kept in the High priests may not be buried and it is customary
to k bodies within the house until time for their cremation comes
this was also done to the corpses of princes, and in the great
palaces there is even a special court devoted to this purpose
but this is becoming rare nowadays because of the extraordinary
expenses it involves.
On the first auspicious day after the death occurs, two' are erected
in the courtyard of the house for the purification of, the body;
one for the sun and another for Pradjapati, the deity of cremation.
These are decorated with lamaks and filled offerings that are
renewed daily. The naked corpse is then, placed on a stretcher
wit its sexual parts covered with a small, of cloth or by the
hand of the wife or husband. They sprinkle the body with holy
water and recite prayers; then combed and anointed with perfumed
oil and the teeth are filed off if this had not been done during
life. The body is then rubbed with a mixture of rice flour and
tumeric, with salt, vineger and sandalwood powder. The toes and
thumbs are bound with white yarn, and rolls of kepengs are tied
to the hands which are folded over the breast in an attitude of
prayer. the banten sutji: shreds of mirror glass which are laid
on lids, bits of steel on the teeth, a gold ring with a ruby mouth,
jasmine flowers in the nostrils, and iron nails on,, limbs - all
symbols of the more perfect senses with person will be reborn;
stronger and more beautiful, as bright as mirrors, teeth like
steel, breath as fragrant as'_' and bones of iron ". The
head is covered with a white cloth, and an egg is rolled all over
-the body to signify its newly acquired purity. The corpse is
next wrapped in many yards of white cloth, in a straw mat, and
again in more yards of cloth, and finally bound tightly on the
rant6, an external covering of split bamboo tied with rattan.
If the corpse is to be buried and not mummified, it is taken to
the cemetery with music, accompanied by singing relatives, who
carry offerings and bamboo tubes with holy water. Before lowering
the body into the shallow grave, the offerings are dedicated to
Mother Earth, a prayer is recited, and money is thrown in to pay
for the ground used. The corpse is laid in the grave with an open
bamboo tube in the place of the mouth to let the soul out, the
grave is filled, and a bamboo structure with a roof of white tissue
paper is erected over it. A small altar of bamboo is placed next
to the grave for offerings, brought daily for a period of twelve
days. Offerings are brought again forty-two days after the date
of death, when it is considered, that the soul has been completely
detached from the body and the cremation can take place, provided
there is money available; otherwise it has to be postponed until
means are obtained, often years later.
The high priest is next consulted to determine the propitious
day on which to bold the cremation - a date far enough in advance
to allow for the elaborate preparations. A few days before the
date named, the relatives start for the cemetery to dig up the
remains. The grave is opened and the body removed or as much of
the body as remains after an interment which lasts from a month
and seven days to even two years and longer. Sometimes there is
not more than a few bones to be found, but even these are collected
and arranged as nearly as possible in the form of the human body.
These are wrapped in a bundle of new white cloth and carried back
to the house. It was an eerie sight when on a rainy day the men
of Pemetjutan were opening the graves for a mass cremation, searching
the mud-filled trenches, cavorting and shouting with delight the
discovery of a blackened jaw-bone or a femur.
At home the bundle containing the remains is placed again` on
the pavilion reserved for the corpse, now strewn with skills and
brocades and ornamented with the family's heirlooms: gold and
silver vessels, peacock feathers, jeweled krisses, and so forth
The remains are covered with many cloths bearing magic inscriptions,
over which are placed the offerings and the many ritual accessories
that symbolize or contain the dead man's soul.
Among these are the kekreb sinom, a sort of lattice of coconut
leaves with flowers in the crossings; and the ukur, a human representation
showing the proper position of the bones and nerves, usually simply
kePengs (the bones), strung on ropes of white yarn (the nerves),
but the prosperous use ukurs made of silver or gold plaques representing
the head, hands, feet, and bones held together by wires of the
same metal. These are used for display and are replaced by an
ordinary ukur of coins for the actual burning. An interesting
accessory is the angenan, a curious structure made of a ripe coconut
filled with rice (the heart) as the base of an upright stick surmounted
by an elaborate structure of colored threads (the brains) and
a little lamp made of an eggshell (the soul) , supported by a
bent piece of rattan - (the arm).
This is supposed to commemorate the love and remembrance of the
dead person. Of great importance is the kadjang, a sort of shroud,
yards of white cloth covered with cabalistic symbols drawn by
the priest, who also writes the ulantaga, the credentials by which
the soul is admitted into the swarga. It is an inscription on
little pieces of a sort of tapa from Celebes, a specially prescribed
paper made of beaten tree-bark. Offerings are made again to the
sun, to Pradjapati, and for the evil spirits. There are also special
offerings for the soul itself to take along on its trip to the
beyond: food for the soul, for its retinue, and for presents to
give out along its way. These are the ponguriagan, pisang djati,
nasi angkab, pandjang ilan, and bubuh pirata, the essential cremation
offerings.
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