The first ceremony of a Balinese takes place before he or she is even born. On the 6th month of the pregnancy a ceremony with offerings is conducted (pegedong-pegedong) to ensure the well being and health of the baby.

Once the baby is born the afterbirth is to be placed in a coconut which is wrapped in a white cloth and finally buried near the entrance of the parent's household. For a short period of time appropriate ceremonies are conducted regularly on this spot.

The final life cycle ceremony is the Bali cremation (Pengabenan, ngaben or palebonan). When touring around the island you are likely to see this ceremony.

We have witnessed it several times and were even able to see one of the biggest in decades: the royal cremation in Ubud 2008. If you are not fully aware about the reasons of the cremations that take place in Bali you can be quite surprised.

The Bali festivals and life-cycle ceremonies stop for a while, until a Balinese boy or girl reaches adolescence...

In this period of life the important and painful tooth-filling ceremony (Mapandes) takes place, preferable before marriage.

By filing away the sharp points of the canine teeth the Balinese believe that human behavior such as lust, greed, anger, drunkenness, jealousy etc. is removed from that specific person.