Tim and I were invited to attend the family Odalan ceremony this Thursday by Professor Tirta's mother. What I've read about it is different from what I understood when Tirta's family explained it to me, so I will go with what I understood from the family.
The Odalan happens twice a year (twice a Bali year, not a Western year, so probably not on a six-month rotation) for each family. It is a time to offer respect to the ancestors as well as to the earth and to water since they are also a part of your ancestors. Everyone from the family must attend and so not only Cok Bagus who lives here in Payangan, but each of the five children needed to come to the ceremony. The property is just a couple buildings down the road and we walked over with Cok Bagus. When we got there, Tirta's mother brought us to the shrine in the back (mauka/East side of each property here seems to always hold the shrines for the ancestors) where her second son had begun the prayers. Prasad was covering the space in front of the shrine. They made a space for us on a mat in the shade (since they were worried we might not handle the heat so well) and gave us a bowl filled with flowers and small flower arrangements. We conducted five meditations/prayers (each a moment of being thankful for and/or remembering our ancestors, for the earth, for the water, for fire, and for a wish we had) and at each prayer, picked up a flower from the bowl and raised it above our heads during the prayer. After the prayer, we placed the flower on our heads (either held in place by our hair or by an ear) or placed it on the ground in front of us. Three times we were sprinkled with tirta or holy water and had it poured into our cupped right hand to drink. We also cleansed our hands and spirits by using the smoke from incense that we had burning in the bowl of flowers.
After the family prayers were over, Tim was invited to the elder's building and taught to chew betel nut with Tirta's brother. They used the red color produced to emphasize the palm sheaves (lontar) that had been carved with prayers in Balinese. The color made it so that you could see the carving.
I thought Tim and I would wait in the living area of the family compound but we were suddenly invited to join the family at the large temple at the adjoining lot. Professor Tirta's family is from the nobility and related to the royal Payangan family, so I think that this temple is the royal temple. Tirta had a class so could not come to the ceremony (but came up after class in the late afternoon) but all four of his siblings were there (plus two spouses). Before the ceremony started, it was very light-hearted and Tirta's oldest brother did a lot of explaining of Balinese cosmology to Tim and I (in his limited English and our even-more limited Indonesian, conveying any of it was a herculean task). Once the ceremony started it became more formal, and we watched the women with offerings and tirta as well as the man with a young dead chicken on a string visit each shrine before finally leaving all of the offerings at an area with palm shrines in the center of the compound. After that we again did the meditation/prayers (we'd been given a bowl of flowers to bring over with us). There was someone with a speaker who gave instructions before each prayer (because the prayer itself is quiet, you meditate on the subject during the time of silence and people needed to know what each prayer was about). I was really glad that we had been invited to the family prayers first so that I had a reasonable sense of what was happening and what to do at each one.
After the ceremony, we returned to the living quarters part of the compound for lunch (which included both dishes that Tirta's mom had in the kitchen as well as chicken and other prasad from the first prayer session).
It was a pretty amazing day.
I did not bring my phone with me to the ceremony and have no photos. But Tim had his and was given permission to take some at various times, so if I get them from him, I will add them below.
The Odalan happens twice a year (twice a Bali year, not a Western year, so probably not on a six-month rotation) for each family. It is a time to offer respect to the ancestors as well as to the earth and to water since they are also a part of your ancestors. Everyone from the family must attend and so not only Cok Bagus who lives here in Payangan, but each of the five children needed to come to the ceremony. The property is just a couple buildings down the road and we walked over with Cok Bagus. When we got there, Tirta's mother brought us to the shrine in the back (mauka/East side of each property here seems to always hold the shrines for the ancestors) where her second son had begun the prayers. Prasad was covering the space in front of the shrine. They made a space for us on a mat in the shade (since they were worried we might not handle the heat so well) and gave us a bowl filled with flowers and small flower arrangements. We conducted five meditations/prayers (each a moment of being thankful for and/or remembering our ancestors, for the earth, for the water, for fire, and for a wish we had) and at each prayer, picked up a flower from the bowl and raised it above our heads during the prayer. After the prayer, we placed the flower on our heads (either held in place by our hair or by an ear) or placed it on the ground in front of us. Three times we were sprinkled with tirta or holy water and had it poured into our cupped right hand to drink. We also cleansed our hands and spirits by using the smoke from incense that we had burning in the bowl of flowers.
After the family prayers were over, Tim was invited to the elder's building and taught to chew betel nut with Tirta's brother. They used the red color produced to emphasize the palm sheaves (lontar) that had been carved with prayers in Balinese. The color made it so that you could see the carving.
I thought Tim and I would wait in the living area of the family compound but we were suddenly invited to join the family at the large temple at the adjoining lot. Professor Tirta's family is from the nobility and related to the royal Payangan family, so I think that this temple is the royal temple. Tirta had a class so could not come to the ceremony (but came up after class in the late afternoon) but all four of his siblings were there (plus two spouses). Before the ceremony started, it was very light-hearted and Tirta's oldest brother did a lot of explaining of Balinese cosmology to Tim and I (in his limited English and our even-more limited Indonesian, conveying any of it was a herculean task). Once the ceremony started it became more formal, and we watched the women with offerings and tirta as well as the man with a young dead chicken on a string visit each shrine before finally leaving all of the offerings at an area with palm shrines in the center of the compound. After that we again did the meditation/prayers (we'd been given a bowl of flowers to bring over with us). There was someone with a speaker who gave instructions before each prayer (because the prayer itself is quiet, you meditate on the subject during the time of silence and people needed to know what each prayer was about). I was really glad that we had been invited to the family prayers first so that I had a reasonable sense of what was happening and what to do at each one.
After the ceremony, we returned to the living quarters part of the compound for lunch (which included both dishes that Tirta's mom had in the kitchen as well as chicken and other prasad from the first prayer session).
It was a pretty amazing day.
I did not bring my phone with me to the ceremony and have no photos. But Tim had his and was given permission to take some at various times, so if I get them from him, I will add them below.