Our previous post Journey to the Afterlife - Ngaben shared video from a recent cremation ceremony near Tampaksiring. The cremation is the ritual burning of the deceased body and releasing of their ashes into the sea or river. This is done to cleanse and release the deceased from their physical body.
Memukur is a series of ceremonies following cremation to escort the spirit to higher spirital realms. It is performed by the family and community of the deceased. It may be performed days, weeks, or even years after the cremation. A home for the spirit - often a coconut with banyon leaves shaped in the form of a physical body by a priest or Brahmin - is used in the ceremony. It is blessed and presented at the temple and then burned after. There's a lot more to this of course and I won't attempt to treat the topic thoroughly - sorry about that, there are many sources on the subject. I bring it up here because we were fortunate to attend memukur ceremonies at some of the important temples where these ceremonies occur. Goa Lawah is one of them. It is named from goa (cave) lawar (bat) because the temple is set at an opening to cave where many bats (1000s) live and is said to have lead all the way up the sacred volcano Gunung Agung, until its last eruption in 2018 closed off parts of the cave.
The priest is getting prepared.
The family prepares
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