Bali Cremation Ceremony, Candidasa

Bali Cremation Ceremony, Candidasa
By:http://www.edwebproject.org/bali/gallery/cremation.html

Susanne and I were invited by Nengah Sutu, our driver in Candidasa, to attend a cremation in his village. Having seen cremations in India we were really eager to see what they were like in Bali -- and as we soon discovered, it was more like a festival than anything else.

	Sittin in front of Nengah's shop, a neighbor and his son wait for the cremation procession to begin.		Nengah's wife feeds some rice to their daughter.
	Andy reading his book waiting for the funeral procession.		Ahead of the procession, a group of men arrive carrying items for the funeral pyre.
	Before we know it, the entire village has assembled into a procession coming down the street.		We make our way into the crowd to join the parade.
	A mother carries her young daugther.		Susanne poses amidst the crowd.
	Andy, with his blue backpack, makes his way among the crowd.		A relative of the deceased carrying offerings.
	Some relatives are in a trance, and need assistance when walking with offerings.		Another relative of the deceased.
	The pall bearers arrive.		Musicians follow the pall bearers to the cremation site.
	More music adds to the spectacle.		A band member blowing his whistle.
	Women carry clay jars of holy water.		Groups of men hang out at the cremation site.
	Chatting it up while the priests get ready to go to work.		One of the village priests gets ready to begin the ceremony.
	Men hold umbrellas while other villagers get to work on the funeral pyre.		Another priest pours holy water onto the pyre. The empty clay jars are then shattered and discarded below the pyre.
	Susanne takes a break as villager wait to bring their offerings up to the funeral pyre.		More women line up with their offerings.
	The cremation won't start until every woman gets to bring her offerings to the pyre.		Andy hanging out at the cremation.
	A local boy happy with all the old coins he's found at the cremation site, where mourners have thrown antique Chinese coins into the air.		Kids mug for the camera while waiting for the cremation to reach full swing.
	No matter where you go in the world, kids always love a camera lens.		Pointing a toy bow and arrow at us.
	A man gets ready to light the funeral pyre.		Locals continue to mount items on the pyre as the fire spreads.
	A man stokes the fire as smoke pours out heavily.		Smoke from the pyre hangs over the crowd of mourners.
	The flames reach their peak...		And quickly die out. The crowd disperses minutes afterwards.