Event of the year

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. Ubud was packed with locals, hawkers, tourists and participants for the huge event. A beautiful morning turned torrential as the tower proceeded down Jl Raya Ubud, as if on wheels, to the cemetery after about an hour of preliminaries. It was incredible to watch that team of men lift, twirl and carry that immense tower. Auspicious rain or not? Who knows. I only know that we virtually swam home, beyond drenched, and the camera died. Possibly permanently.  Fortunately the card was OK but we couldn't take any pics of the smaller, and in many ways, more dignified second cremation. The same attention to detail on a much, much smaller scale. All the more impressive because the bearers had to run that tower and the bull up a very, very steep hill.

However, the Royal event was an incredible experience. Impossible to convey the noise of the gamelan and the cheering when they finally managed to get the body into the tower after a great effort up the white ramp. Good humour prevailed all day.

 Added later

In case this doesn't work for you, you should be able to links to the images here.

Some other information about the cremation has appeared in the Jakarta Post.

Sorry about the music, you can see why in the comments. If I can make it go away, I will.

And even later:

More photos from the Ubud Now and Then website.