my life,my journey, my story..

Enjoying Exotic Pelebon of Ida Dwagung Peliatan Ubud
November 2, 2010, 10 AM, the road to Ubud had begun to close. Some police and Pecalang (indigenous security guard) vigil along the entrance road to Ubud, Bali Indonesia. They stopped vehicles that tried to pass. From the tourist information center, I got information that in the village of Peliatan Ubud will be held cremation ceremony which also known as Ngaben. The ceremony was open for public. But, people who wanted to see this ceremony had to walk up. And to respect the body of the king, those who attend required wearing fabric as a subordinate. For them who do not wear it, no need to worry, the sellers of fabric is could be easily found along the road.
Ngaben or which the people of Bali called Palebon is a ceremonial burning of bodies that must be done by the Hindu community in Bali. This ceremony is a form of homage to the ancestors so they will get a good place in nature and survival in the future. They believe that a person's body is just a container for the soul. And when they died, the soul will still be around the body. By doing this ceremony, the spirit will be freed from earthly life to be reincarnated into the next life.
To prepare Ngaben of the king, the people of Ubud requires months of preparation. First of all, families must decide the best time to carry out the ceremony then they must prepare Bade, dragon banda, and the ox as a corpse to Palebon. Everything is made of wood, cork, paper, colorful fabric, and other forming materials and specially prepared by the skilled hands of Balinese artists. Since this ritual is to burn a king's corpse, the bade, dragon banda, and the ox shall be magnificent. There are 34 banjo and approximately 7200 people involved in the preparation of the ceremony.
As the result, the Ox as high as 8 feet and 11 level bade with a total height reached 25.5 meters and weighed 10 tons became a stunning sight for the visitors. Since the cattle and bade were so high, the electrical cable along the road had to be removed temporarily to avoid unwanted things.
At 13.00 pm, the body of the king was increased to the Bade through tragtag (stairs), followed by a procession Manah by pedande (religious leaders). Meanwhile, a few meters from the Bade and the cattle, the convoy was ready. In the front row, a group of men dress up like Balinese dancer lined up neatly, followed by music players behind them. In the middle of the row there were some people who carried a "miniature" of their grandfather and grandmother followed with ox, dragon banda, and bade at the very last row. Afterwards, the convoys ran as commanded, made the people who attended unnerved. We had to fight for places and jogged to follow the movement of the procession in order to get pictures with a perfect angle.