"Bali - A Hindu Island in Muslim In ..." a Bali Travel Page by easyoar

Bali is an amazing island with wonderful scenery and very friendly people. If you get away from some of the horrific coastal resorts and head inland, you can have an amazing time. Being predominantly a Hindu island, the typical funeral consists of a cremation - and it needs to be lavish. The higher the caste you are, the more it costs to die. Why am I telling you this? Well one of the most interesting experiences you can have is to go to a cremation. I'm not saying gate-crash one, it is common practise for tourists to be invited (after paying a charge to a tourist guide). Apparently tradition dictates that the soul of the dead person must be thoroughly confused so it doesn't try and return home, so the more strange people there are milling around the funeral the better.

Important rituals in a cremation are transporting the body to the cremation site from the deceased persons home, and then burning the body along with a 'mode of transport' for the dead soul. A funeral tower is used to transport the body to the cremation site (this is carried by local men in the village on a bamboo frame. The tower itself is extremely ornate and costs a lot to build (I guess another reason why paying tourists are very welcome to attend). It is unlucky to use a tower more than once, so this gets burnt too. It is not uncommon for a body to be buried for a while whilst the family gets the funds to cremate the body, but ultimately the body must be cremated to free the soul for its onward journey and possible reincarnation.