Ubud gears up for royal cremation

Luh De Suriyani and I Wayan Juniarta, The Jakarta Post, Ubud | Mon, 11/01/2010 4:25 PM | Bali
An atmosphere of excitement fi lled Ubud on Sunday as locals and visitors geared up for Tuesday’s grand royal cremation of the late king of Peliatan, which will involve a gigantic wooden sarcophagus, a 25 meter-tall cremation tower and more than 6,800 pallbearers.

The Palebon Agung, a term reserved for the cremation ceremonies of royal family members — as opposed to ngaben, the ceremony for normal Balinese — will be conducted for the late king of Peliatan, Ida Dewa Agung Peliatan IX.

He passed away on Aug. 21 after a fi ght with diabetes.

His embalmed body has been lying in state in a pavilion inside Peliatan Palace in preparation for the Palebon Agung.

“The Palebon Agung will be held on Tuesday; various rituals will start early in the morning but the actual cremation procession will start at around 1 p.m., when the body of the king will be transported on the bade (cremation tower) to Dalem Puri cemetery in Ubud,” Peliatan palace’s spokesperson Tjokorda Agung Pramitha Krisna Dalem said Sunday.

The procession will involve three major props; a 8.5 meter-tall wooden sarcophagus in the form of a white bull, a 6-meter long nagabanda (dragon bridge) and a 25 meter-tall bade.

The main roads of Peliatan and Ubud will be closed to traffi c during the procession. Consequently, severe traffi c congestion is expected in the Ubud area on Tuesday.

The white bull with golden-plated horns was crafted by members of the local pande (blacksmith) community as a testament to the age-old relationship between the Peliatan palace and the community. The 6 meter-long nagabanda was presented by the neighboring Ubud royal family.

“The Ubud royal family and the Peliatan royal family are of the same dynasty. We present this nagabanda as a token of solidarity with the Peliatan royal family,” the nagabanda’s architect, Tjokorda Gede Raka Sukawati, said.

In Balinese tradition only a ruling king is entitled to be carried on a nagabanda.

The majestic and glittering appearance of the dragon symbolizes the worldly desires and sensual pleasures that the king experienced in his life.

“The worldly desires, sensual pleasures and temptations suffered by a ruling king is naturally far greater than that encountered by a common man.

That’s why the cremation of a ruling king uses the nagabanda,” he added.

Prior to the procession from the palace to the Dalem Puri royal cemetery, a high priest will fi re a sacred arrow into the dragon in a symbolic action of destroying the worldly desires that tormented the deceased and thus releasing his soul from the chains of the material world.

The 25 meter-tall cremation tower has eleven pyramid-shaped roofs signifying the king’s lineage from the Majapahit noblemen who conquered the island in 14th century.

On Sunday, members of the local community completed the fi nishing touches on the elaborately decorated tower.

As many as 6,800 men from villages in Peliatan, Ubud, Pejeng, Taro and Tegalpayang will take turns carrying the heavy tower along the 2.5 kilometers from the palace to the cemetery.

“A cremation is always a communal event in Bali, a collective endeavor carried out by all members of
the community.

During the monthslong preparation for this cremation, the age-old bond between the palace and the local communities is rejuvenated and strengthened,” the elder of Peliatan palace, Tjokorda Gde PutraNindia said.

Following the passing of Ida Dewa Agung Peliatan IX, the palace’s heirlooms and authority were handed over to Tjokorda Gede Putra Nindia, a strong sign that he will be crowned the next king of Peliatan, one of three powerful royal houses in Gianyar.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/11/01/ubud-gears-royal-cremation.html

Holy Month Starts Early for Eager Muslims

Putri Prameshwari | August 11, 2010
A Muslim official looking for the waxing crescent moon, which signals the start of Ramadan, at sunset at Ambat Beach on Madura Island in East Java on Tuesday. (Antara Photo/Saiful Bahri Pamekasan) A Muslim official looking for the waxing crescent moon, which signals the start of Ramadan, at sunset at Ambat Beach on Madura Island in East Java on Tuesday. (Antara Photo/Saiful Bahri Pamekasan)

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Indonesia. Today is the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, according to the government and key Islamic organizations, although fasting started earlier for some.

Speaking after a meeting with representatives from the country’s major Muslim groups, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali on Tuesday said sightings of the waxing crescent moon had confirmed Ramadan would start today.

“After considering the sightings from Muslim organizations and officials, we can state that 1 Ramadan 1431H falls on Wednesday, August 11, 2010,” he said. “With this, I wish all Muslims a solemn fasting month.”

But for some groups of Muslims around the country, the government’s announcement came a little late.

Followers of Tarikat Almufridun, a Muslim order in Langkat near Medan, began fasting on Tuesday after they held their first nightly prayer for Ramadan on Monday, according to television news channel Metro TV.

Some 1,000 members of another group, Tarekat Naqsabandiyah in Padang, reportedly started even earlier, beginning their fasting on Monday.

Makmur Syafri, the group’s leader, told TV station RCTI that it had determined the start of Ramadan using its own method, called hisab munjid .

“According to our calculations, Ramadan started on Sunday night,” he said, “so we started fasting on Monday.”

The 300 members of An Nadzir, a small Muslim community that lives on the banks of Lake Mawang in Gowa district, near Makassar in South Sulawesi, also reportedly started fasting on Monday after holding prayers on Sunday night.

Lukman Bakri, the group’s leader, told mediaindonesia.com that it had also determined the start of the holy month from its own observations.

“We watched the movement of the moon during high tide and, based on what we saw, we’re confident that Ramadan started on Monday,” he said.

Rohadi Abdul Fatah, director of Islam and Shariah law at the Religious Affairs Ministry, said astronomical calculations had pointed to the fasting month beginning today.

The start of Ramadan is usually determined by the sighting of the waxing crescent moon, with observations being compiled from nine locations across the country in addition to reports from 29 other regions.

The exact starting date, however, is sometimes the subject of dispute between the country’s two biggest Muslim groups, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, which between them have as many as 70 million members, because of the different methods employed, from astronomical calculations to actual sightings.

Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, is a time for introspection for the world’s more than 1.5 billion Muslims.

Ringside view of Bali

Geetika Jain, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, June 29, 2010
First Published: 17:53 IST(29/6/2010)
Last Updated: 01:20 IST(30/6/2010)

It would be a crime to come away from Bali without appreciating the ritual ceremonies of the Balinese and getting to know some of the age-old customs adhered to by this vibrant pinprick of humanity.

Landing at Denpasar airport, visitors head for the beach resorts of Legian, Seminyak and Jimbaran Bay, which are full of powdery beaches, palm-fringed skies and a roaring nightlife.

There is lots to Bali which begs exploration. Head inland to see the extraordinary landscapes — the contoured rice paddies of Kliki, innumerable tinkling rivulets and the animated volcanoes.

Also, see what’s cooking in the local kitchens, to soak in the extraordinary customs and traditions of the locals. You’ll discover family-temples on every threshold, the Bakso-man with his cart of steaming hot dumplings, cocks in wicker baskets awaiting a spar, and stalls laden with exotic fruits.

Flower power
Walking though the streets of Ubud, a town overrun with art galleries and kitchen restaurants, I noticed small offerings of flowers and food in tiny leaf baskets everywhere. Tony Tack, a Dutch anthropologist, explained the morning ritual: “Each of those flowers has significance. The blue is for Krishna, red for Brahma, white for Shiva and so on… ”

In Bali, people spend a higher percentage of their salary on religious observances than anywhere else in the world. We watched a mother and her two children orient themselves towards Gunung Agung, the highest and most sacred mountain, to pray. “These are vestiges of Agama Hinduism; it has a rare stronghold on the Balinese and is deeply embedded in their psyche,” said Tony.

Colourful sight
The colour and pageantry of Balinese ceremonies is eye-catching. Each day, we saw decked-up women and men carrying offerings in decorated boxes, and sandalwood idols to seashores and riverbanks. We chanced upon locals celebrating ‘Tumpak’, a day earmarked for worshipping trees and plants.

Balinese performing arts too, are enmeshed with religious mythology. Ubud’s theatres are replete with shadow puppet shows, gamelan music and loose-limbed dances. We saw the stylised legong dance and chechak, a lively ‘monkey dance’. At Ubud palace, we watched an enactment of the Ramayan involving huge masks and gongs.

Exploring the east and north, and getting lost in the hill-villages was most enjoyable. Here, the locals lived without walls, sat without chairs and ate without cutlery. At Sideman village, we met artist Nyoman Mandra over coffee and banana fritters. The conversation turned to Bali’s connection with India. “It is my dream to visit India someday,” he said.

Where would you like to go?” I asked. “Ayodhya, Dwarka, Vrindavan” he said, his imagination firmly captured in the pages of the ancient texts.

Balinese girls wearing traditional costumes watch the Pandanus fights during an annual sacred Usaba Sambah festival

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Usaba Sambah festival held in Tenganan Pegringsingan of Bali
English.news.cn 2010-06-28 19:04:11 FeedbackPrintRSS


Balinese girls wearing traditional costumes watch the Pandanus fights during an annual sacred Usaba Sambah festival in Tenganan Pegringsingan of Bali, east province of Indonesia, June 27, 2010. Tenganan Pegringsingan is an ancient village home to Bali, a term generally used to refer to indigenous Balinese although it literally means the mountain people of Bali. (Xinhua/Anta Kesuma)

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