Death
And Cremation
THE BODY
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
uncleanliness 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 abird
also of bambo 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 purificaton
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. The, sprinkles the body with
holy water and recites prayers; t 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
", (according to Wirtz). 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 grav6 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 skils and brocades and ornamented with the family's
heirlooms: gold and silver vessels, peacock feathers,
jewelled 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. coloured 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 symbol$.. drawn by the priest, who also writes
the ulantaga, the credentials. by which the soul is
admitted into the swarga, inscriptions 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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INDONESIA
