Royal Send-Off

running with the bull

Whistles blew! Men yelled!

Before I knew it, the ten ton (really) bade was upon me. I ran while simultaneously trying to get a few snaps of the wildly careening tower. At the last moment, I found a narrow step and squeezed in with dozens of spectators. As I pressed myself into others to avoid being struck by the bamboo supports that transected the entire width of Ubud Raya street; I continued to click away, hoping to get some sense of the magnitude of effort needed to move the bade.

And then it was gone.

Over 1500 men from all the local bajars (community organizations) had been enlisted to carry the bade and sarcophagus. The 500 or so needed to man the bamboo and two-by-four structures were relieved every 300 meters or so by a new group. The men from 'my' banjar in Bentulung were justifiably proud to carry the bade the final challenging segment. Not only do these men have to move the gigantic structure, but at the cross roads to the cemetery it must be spun around several times to confuse the evil spirits that might tag along with the spirit.

princess, priest riding with the body on the bade, prince, other men of the family ride the bull

As I looked up, the 75 meter-tall, gaily decorated tower, carrying the body of Anak Agung Niang Rai, the Queen Mother of the royal family of Ubud, was further down the road on its journey to Pura Dalem, the temple of death. Here her shroud-wrapped body would be moved from under the nine roofs denoting royalty; carried down a steep gang plank, for it had no real steps; and placed in the 7.5 meter high Lembu, (bull sarcophagus). Then, after dozens of offerings including: babi guling (roast suckling pig), duck, rice and cloth, among others are blessed by the priest and placed in the sarcophagus; the bull is set afire by a giant propane torch.

the men in the band

The Pelebon ceremony is an ancient Hindu-Balinese rite during which the five elements of which the body consists (earth—flesh and bone; water—blood and fluids; fire—the light in the eyes, particularly love that one; air—breath; and space—ether, spirit) are purified and released back to the universe from which they came. After that the karma one has built up in life determines one's future existence.

Later in the evening around 9pm the Queen's ashes were taken to the sea at Sanur and released.

This short impressive parade has a cast of characters familiar to all celebrations, not just Balinese: the marching band (gamelan), the vendors, the security, the fans.
Here are a few:

vendors

more marching bands