Bali Cremation (Ngaben)

Ngaben is a ceremony for burning the bodies of Hindus in Bali. Ngaben ceremony is a ritual carried out to return ancestral spirits to their original place. Ngaben in Balinese has a subtle connotation which is often called palebon. Palebon comes from the word lebu which means prathiwi or land. Palebon means to make prathiwi (ash). There are two ways to make the land, namely by burning (ngaben) and planting into the ground (methanem). The purpose of the Ngaben ceremony The purpose of the Ngaben ceremony is to accelerate the Ragha Sarira so that it can return to its origin, namely the five Maha Buthadi nature and for Atma to be able to quickly go to the Pitra realm. The philosophical foundation of Ngaben in general is Panca Sradha, namely the five basic frameworks of Hinduism, namely Brahman, Atman, Karmaphala, Samsara and Moksha. Meanwhile, in particular, Ngaben is carried out because of the love for the ancestors and the devotion of children to their parents. The Ngaben ceremony is a process of returning the five Maha Butha elements to the Creator. Ngaben is also referred to as pitra yadnya (lontar yama purwana tattwa). Pitra which means ancestors or dead people, while yadnya is a sincere sacred offering. The implementation of the Ngaben ceremony / Pitra Yadnya ATIWA-TIWA CEREMONY The origin of the word Atiwa-tiwa: Ati = desire, Awa = bright or clear or clean. Meaning: The desire to carry out the cleansing and purification of the body and the power of the Panca Maha buthaya. Atiwa-tiwa is also called the melelet ceremony or the drying ceremony. It is a cleansing and purification ceremony at the beginning of the body of the power of the Panca Maha Butha. Known as Puja Pitara to increase the holiness of Petra to Pitara.

Ngeringkes or Ngelelet meaning is the return or purification of the origin of humans, namely in the form of sacred letters so that they must be returned again. Humans are born given the power by Sang Hyang Widhi in the form of Ongkara Mula, in the body manifests into Mudra Literature, Wrestra Literature (Nuriastra) and Swalalita Literature. These three literary strengths give the meaning of Utpti, Stiti, Pralina (born, alive, dead). These three literatures then manifest again giving soul to every cell of the body, The human body has 108 Dirga Sastras (holy letters) which at the time of death they are returned to the Ongkara Mula literature or called Ongkara Pranawa. This return process is called Ngeringkes which requires ceremonies and facilities. Atiwa-tiwa is already an initial stage of purification, so that after the atiwa-tiwa the body can be carried, it is raised to a paga or container. If buried without atiwa-tiwa, the body should not be carried, but carried because it is still Petra’s status.