Hundreds of children, mostly of 3 to 15 years of age, gathered in the inner courtyard of Duwur Bingin Temple, in Tegalalang village on Wednesday (4/22/09). They dressed in traditional clothes some of them were bare-chested. They had painted their faces and bodies with colorful images and pattern and each of them carried a slender staff made from the branch of palm, decorated with colorful flowers and young coconut leaves. They are the participants of Ngerebeg ritual.

The Ngerebeg ritual began with distribution of deity’s blessing by magibung ritual (eating collectively); 6 to 8 participants formed a group, they sit together around a set of food and ate it together. After megibung, they lined up in front of the temple to receive purification ritual with sprinkling of holy water by the priest. Then the noisy procession of freakishly decorated children began to hit the street of Tegalalang village.

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If you happen to stay in Bali long enough or during the propitious days, you will likely to encounter a religious procession. Lines of Balinese, men and women, young and old, walk down the street with their Sunday-best cloth (mostly white, especially for men). The women carry offerings and paraphernalia of the ceremony, while the men carry replicas of the deities, umbrellas, spears, banners, and of course, musical instruments for enlivening the procession. The procession usually starts from the temple to the nearest springs, sea, or other source of holy water and vice versa.

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To shed a better light on Naga Banda, here is a short story on the origin of Naga banda and why it is used in a royal cremation.

King Waturenggong, the king of Bali, held a grand ceremony in the capital city of his kingdom, Gelgel. One of the requirements of the ceremony is that a high priest of Buda sect has to officiate the ceremony along with the high priest of Siwa sect; so Danghyang Astapaka, a high priest of Buda sect which also brother of royal priest Danghyang Nirartha was summoned form East Java to officiate the ceremony.

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Tens of thousands of locals and tourists are expected to flock to the tiny resort village of Ubud, Bali, on Tuesday to witness the Palebon (cremation ceremony) of three members of the Ubud royal family.

Among the royals to be cremated is Tjokorda Gde Agung Suyasa, who formerly headed the Ubud royal family and was Bendesa (chief) of Desa Pekraman (a traditional customary village) for more than three decades.

A stoic aristocrat, Suyasa was also one of the most influential figures behind the revival of Balinese Hinduism in several parts of the country. He donated generous contributions to several major Hindu temples in Java, including the majestic Mandhara Giri Semeru Agung temple in East Java, and others in Kalimantan and Lombok.

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Guests who book into the Elephant Safari Park Lodge, Taro – Ubud Bali can experience waking up to the sight and sounds of a herd of elephants meandering to the lake for their morning bathing ritual whilst enjoying a gourmet breakfast from the Mammoths Head Bar terrace overlooking 3.5 hectares of pristine tropical parklands and unspoiled national forest.

All Elephant Safari Park Lodge rooms feature unique elephant art painted by the parks own pachyderms, elephant inspired décor and artifacts, individual climate controlled air-conditioning and overhead fans, state of the art LCD televisions with satellite and in-house channels, resort wide wi-fi internet service, IDD telephones and personal honor-bar and a unique Elephant Chauffeur service direct from the elevated landing of the lodge room, with the exception of the Paddy View rooms.

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‘Siat sampian’ or sampian war is one of the oldest Balinese Hindus’ sacred tradition that is performed annually at Samuan Tiga temple in Gianyar. In this war, dozens of premas – or women – worshippers to the temple’s Gods, attack each other using young-coconut leaf arrangements (sampian) in an almost unconscious state of mind. After them, the same sampian war is also performed by no less than three hundred of the parekan – or men – devotees. The war and its related ritual begins at 9 am. This more than eleven centuries old tradition is very unique and cannot be found in other parts of Bali.

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The cremation procession featured a Naga Banda, a mythical dragon-like creature with a 5-metre long tail, which is one of the elements that made this high-caste ritual such a spectacular event.

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