Overview
Ngaben, a Balinese sacred ceremonial ritual, is one of the most important cultural events. It’s a cremation ceremony where families send off the deceased known to enter the “next” life. In Hindu, ngaben means to separate the soul from the body, which is done in this ritual through cremation.
Before the main ceremony begins, family members of the deceased prepare a wooden ox that is used to hold the bodies that are eventually burnt. As the wooden ox (or temple structure) is carried to the cremation site, Balinese will try to confuse the deceased’s spirit to make sure it doesn’t find its way back home.
