ABSTRACT
Ritual now centres on the reintegration of the soul into society. With formal burial and the cleansing of the compound, offerings may be given to the impure spirit on the bed of the balé dangin. For low castes in Tengahpadang, the complete return of the soul is only possible after cremation, ngabèn. The body is disinterred, in whole or part (depending on descent group rules, as does the direction of the head in burial). It is then carried north towards the cremation mound and raised onto a prepared funeral pyre. Afterwards, the ashes are committed either to a river or the sea, in a final disposal of the mortal remains to the south. From this moment, offerings to the spirit are made from a high shelf in the east of the balé dangin. Among commoners, the cycle is considered closed by the ceremony of ngerorasin, held twelve days later (hence the identical term to the earlier life-cycle rite, which is, however, quite distinct). The soul is then thought to be sufficiently purified to be worshipped from the sanggah (for the ideal stages, see Goris 1960a: 84). The equivalent high caste rites are properly more complicated and provide an opportunity for some to engage in the conspicuous display of wealth and support. For instance, members of princely families may be carried on elaborate biers, suitably borne on the shoulders of the client populace. Following cremation (pelebon in high Balinese), there are a series of possible additions of increasing scale-successively ngasti, meligiya and ngeluwer (rarely, if ever, performed)—for the further purification of the soul, which reaffirm the superiority to low castes.
