The Balinese Hindu’s respect for Existence and Death is significant. This can be observed by a variety of rituals they undertake. For example you will find quite a few rituals for the un-born baby, soon after the baby is born, adolescence, marriage, death, and also right after death.

Soon after the seventh calendar month of pregnancy is the time for the “housing of the soul” or Magedong-gedongan ceremony. On the fifth or the seventh day right after a baby is created, a ceremony for the separation of the umbilical cord (Kepus Pungsed) is organised. One calendar month and seven nights right after birth, a shrine is placed next to the baby’s cot with flower and banana offering to the Dewa Kumara deity, who will guard the baby, till its first tooth appears.

At the age of the 3 months, the baby is permitted to touch the ground and is given a name. Each and every six months or 210 nights, the baby will have an Otonan or a celebration of the baby’s birth day in accordance to the Balinese calendar in the Family temple. The Otonan ceremony is continuously organised from birth till the baby reaches adulthood, marries and occasionally also till they die.

The Mesangih or Metatah (a tooth filing ceremony) will take place during adolescence, at a time when sexual desire has reached its peak. The teeth symbolize the “animal” or the uncontrolled aspect of humans. Balinese Demons always have lengthy canine teeth. By filing the individual’s teeth, six enemies will be eradicated; lust, greed, anger, intoxication, confusion and jealously.

The Balinese marriage ceremony, Manusa Yadnya, is preceded by an engagement or Mepadik during which the bride and groom romantically “elope” together. They are supported by a group of accomplices, who guard the bride and groom during their honeymoon. The marriage procession then follows in a more formal manner.

The Ngaben (cremation ceremony) ritual is a reminder of cosmic symbolism of life. The casket tower is a representation of the cosmos; with the corpse in the middle, which symbolizes its position between the spiritual and the human worlds. The sarcophagus, in which the body is burned, is a vehicle to take the soul away. The ashes are compiled and taken to the sea. Soon after the Nyekah rite, the soul is afterwards enshrined in the family temple and the deceased is now an ancestor, till the next reincarnation.

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