Bali is one of the beautiful islands in the country of Indonesia, and is one of the foreign tourist destinations, thanks to its beauty, many foreign tourists visit Bali every year. Its area is not too wide, only around 5,780 km2, but Bali has various customs and cultures that are different in each region, even the language is different in some areas. One of the unique traditions that can be witnessed by tourists is the tradition of religious ceremonies, there are seven religious ceremonial traditions carried out by Balinese people, including:
Ngaben ceremony
The Ngaben ceremony is a cremation ceremony in Bali which is believed by the Balinese Hindu community as a ritual to perfect the body back to the Creator. Ngaben ceremonies are divided into three types, namely: Ngaben sawa Wedana, Ngaben Asti Wedana, and Private. The Ngaben Sawa Wedana ceremony is carried out after the corpse has been preserved before the burning ritual takes place. Meanwhile, Ngaben Asti Wedana is carried out after the body is buried first. Finally, a private ceremony is performed for Balinese residents who died outside the area or whose bodies were not found.
Given the large amount of money that will be incurred for the Ngaben ceremony, not all Balinese people can carry out this ceremony for families who have died. However, both the traditional village government and the provincial government held a mass cremation ceremony intended for underprivileged families so that the bodies of their ancestors could be purified or cleaned in accordance with Hindu religious teachings. So, the Ngaben Ceremony will not always be carried out and cannot be predicted.
In the ceremony there is a tradition where a place like a coffin that has been arranged in such a way is paraded by the family or people around and taken from the house to the grave for cremation or called setra in Balinese.
Melasti Ceremony
The Melasti ceremony is a purification ceremony for both oneself and sacred objects belonging to the temple. In Hindu religious beliefs, water sources such as lakes, seas and springs are the source of life or tirta amerta. In this event, people flock to the sea or water sources dressed in white and carrying prayer equipment and usually carrying pratima, sacred objects or statues to be cleaned in a sekala and niskala manner.
The purpose of this ceremony is to increase devotion to the Gods and manifestations of God and to increase Hindu awareness to restore environmental sustainability. If you want to witness this traditional ceremony, come 3 or 4 days before the Nyepi celebration is held and stay at hotels close to large Hindu temples such as in Kuta or Uluwatu.
Ngerupuk Ceremony
The Ngerupuk ceremony is carried out exactly the day before Nyepi or Silent Day arrives and the community is required to make offerings to Bhuta Kala, with the aim of expelling Bhuta Kala so that it does not interfere with human life while doing Brata Penyepian. The ritual starts with torching the house, spraying the house and yard with gunpowder, and hitting objects to make a noise. After this traditional ritual in Bali is finished, there will usually be an ogoh-ogoh parade which is paraded with torches around the residents’ living areas.
Those are some unique and common traditions in Bali, so when you are on vacation in Bali and encounter some of these traditions you are very lucky to find them, because these traditions only come from time to time and some are scheduled on certain days.
