Bali Cremation Ceremony, Candidasa

Susanne and I were invited by Nengah Sutu, our driver in Candidasa, to attend a cremation in his village. Having seen cremations in India we were really eager to see what they were like in Bali -- and as we soon discovered, it was more like a festival than anything else.

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Sittin in front of Nengah's shop, a neighbor and his son wait for the cremation procession to begin.
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Nengah's wife feeds some rice to their daughter.
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Andy reading his book waiting for the funeral procession.
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Ahead of the procession, a group of men arrive carrying items for the funeral pyre.
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Before we know it, the entire village has assembled into a procession coming down the street.
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We make our way into the crowd to join the parade.
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A mother carries her young daugther.
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Susanne poses amidst the crowd.
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Andy, with his blue backpack, makes his way among the crowd.
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A relative of the deceased carrying offerings.
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Some relatives are in a trance, and need assistance when walking with offerings.
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Another relative of the deceased.
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The pall bearers arrive.
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Musicians follow the pall bearers to the cremation site.
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More music adds to the spectacle.
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A band member blowing his whistle.
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Women carry clay jars of holy water.
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Groups of men hang out at the cremation site.
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Chatting it up while the priests get ready to go to work.
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One of the village priests gets ready to begin the ceremony.
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Men hold umbrellas while other villagers get to work on the funeral pyre.
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Another priest pours holy water onto the pyre. The empty clay jars are then shattered and discarded below the pyre.
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Susanne takes a break as villager wait to bring their offerings up to the funeral pyre.
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More women line up with their offerings.
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The cremation won't start until every woman gets to bring her offerings to the pyre.
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Andy hanging out at the cremation.
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A local boy happy with all the old coins he's found at the cremation site, where mourners have thrown antique Chinese coins into the air.
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Kids mug for the camera while waiting for the cremation to reach full swing.
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No matter where you go in the world, kids always love a camera lens.
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Pointing a toy bow and arrow at us.
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A man gets ready to light the funeral pyre.
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Locals continue to mount items on the pyre as the fire spreads.
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A man stokes the fire as smoke pours out heavily.
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Smoke from the pyre hangs over the crowd of mourners.
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The flames reach their peak...
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And quickly die out. The crowd disperses minutes afterwards.


Ubud | The Ubud Monkey Forest | The Dances of Bali | The Kecak Dance | The Alam Jiwa Hotel | Cooking at Casa Luna | The Elephant Cave of Goa Gajah | Yeh Pulu | Gunung Kawi | Mengwi | Tanah Lot and Ulu Watu | Shadow Puppets | Candidasa and the Watergarden Hotel | Pura Goa Lawah | Pura Besakih | Visit to a Cremation | Tirta Gangga's Rice Paddies | Amed and the Santai Hotel | Lake Bratan | Dance Practice in Nyuhkuning | Pura Semuan Tiga's Odalan Festival
Susanne and Andy's Itinerary
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