Way To Go

This is one way to go. Incongruously the whole time I was watching this scene, "Come On, Baby, Light My Fire" by the Doors was playing in my head.

When I arrived in Ubud a week back I began hearing talk of the royal cremation scheduled for 10 February. It seems that 10 February was an auspicious day for the bodies of 3 members of the royal family of Bali who had died within the past several months to be cremated. As I am becoming accustomed in Bali, I never really understand what and why things are happening, so it is mostly a matter of watching, asking and trying to put together the pieces of information. Evidently the bodies were buried up until this day when they were exhumed and treated to a royal sendoff. The atmosphere was very festive and I detected only a brief instant of sadness when one lady, presumably the widow, tossed flowers on the pyre of her husband and had to be assisted down.

The royal palace in Ubud is very centrally located and I passed it often going to and fro and this is where the event was to begin. From Wednesday afternoon onward there was classical Balinese music and dancing. The drums, flutes, gongs and bells were a constant exotic background soundtrack when I would shop or eat or sight see in this part of town. When I walked up to the palace on Thursday morning the crowd was huge. Everywhere there were sarongs for sale. Wearing a sarong, which is simply a meter and a half of cloth wrapped around your waist, was required in order to enter the temples and palace. I bought a nice sarong and to complement my outfit I also purchased a non required scarf for my head, just to add to my sizable collection of head wear. I felt quite well dressed, at least for Bali.

The cremation was supposed to have begun at 10 AM and by about noon the coffins with the bodies were loaded into two huge pagoda like towers which were sitting atop massive bamboo poles. Then about 100 men lifted the platforms and began running and shouting and dancing their way along the street toward the cremation grounds. The orchestras were playing lively music and it sort of reminded me of New Orleans funerals which I have seen in movies. The crowd which was about half local and half tourist followed the biers to the temple where it was another couple of hours of music, chanting and dancing until the fires were lit and the actual cremation took place. My timing was good to have been in the right place and time to witness this unforgettable event. That is one way to go.