International Journal of Indonesian Studies Volume 1, Issue 3 | Page 15

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN STUDIES
SPRING 2016

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means ritual of the12th day). Other names of this ritual include mamukur, nyekah, or
ngelanus (Suastika, 2008:38).
The ritual ceremony then returns to the sea in order to call back the soul from the
dead, through offerings to the goddess of the sea. The soul, is then brought back and
symbolically placed in the family temple which is in a specific shrine called rong tiga
(containing three spaces; the right side for the men, the women at the left side, and
the centre space as the inner ‘sanctum’ of the divine (from where immortal
originate). As was the previous case, the procession to the coast is undertaken by
private car; a short parade then takes place after the family members park their cars
and ‘process’ to the sea.

From the various rituals mentioned above, there are several routes of the procession which
have been carried out by family members of the deceased to symbolically important places.
In spite of significant physical changes to the area, as a result of tourism et cetera, the
routes of the procession reveal only minor changes over time, with the relocation of the
residence of the royal priest to the north from the initial Tabanan royal palace. In addition,
the Dalem Temple and its cemetery were relocated further east. The imposition of a one
way system at the street intersection, however, may have had a significant impact on the
essence of the historical rite. With a new intersection located near the initial site, the sacred
nuance may be slightly different. However, some royal family members still use the historic
intersection as the route of the procession, whilst other members do not. As a consequence,
the routes of the procession have become longer with different paths introduced toward
the cemetery (Figure 15).11
From the route of the procession it can be recorded that the three main access
points from Tabanan town have become the busiest routes for cremation ceremonies which
pass along Gunung Agung, Pahlawan, and Gajah Mada Street. Even though Tabanan
inhabitants have a different method for collecting holy water, when compared to royal
members or the king’s priest family, they follow the same direction towards the village
temples. Since the location of the sacred bayan tree is in front of Puseh and Bale Agung
temple, this area is one of intensive ritual activity when the cremation ceremonies take
place. The concentration of people, in relation to the route of the procession, is apparent
both before and after the cremation. Another interesting aspect of this area is that the
locations of the temple and tree have not changed from the beginning, serving as enduring
evidence of the historically important role of the palace and temple in the life of the town.
Even though the ancient Tabanan village has become the centre of the expanded
town, most routes of the religious cremation festival still have a dynamic relationship with
the urban fabric which has persisted over time. Another important urban feature of these
ceremonies is their relationship to the 23 banjar communities, highlighted at the beginning
of this paper, which forms an integral part of the village community and the larger civic life
11

The source of basic map is from Laporan RTRK. Tabanan Tahun 2006: p.III-6.

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