When the royal family of Ubud, a region in theIndonesian islandprovince of Bali, began planning the dazzling day-long cremation ceremony for Anak Agung Niang Agung, wife of the last king of Ubud, they had no idea it would become the story behind a luxuriantly filmed music video featuring international composer/pianist Arash Behzadi.
In a series of recent trips to Bali, Toronto-based Behzadi found an unexpected inner peace and tranquillity in the timeless island’s ancient sacred temples and its gentle people which inspired his music in new ways. His just-released music video takes his experience to unexpected levels of visual exotica and rare discovery.
In a serendipitous moment the day of celebration March 2, Behzadi’s friend Cosmic, a gifted Australian filmmaker and now Bali resident, obtained unprecedented access to the centuries-old sacred rituals performed within the royal family’s inner sanctum. The powerful imagery he documented forms a magical backdrop for Behzadi’s intimate yet edgy composition The Last Sigh. A mysterious energy pervades both the music and the eloquent beauty of the visual narrative. Scenes are bathed in a golden light reminiscent of an exotic Rembrandt come to life.
Ubud is unique in how it has managed to embrace the 21st century with dignity yet still retain its centuries-old artistry, culture and religion. It’s a rare place on earth, blessed with a strong sense of community and singular spiritual energy so intelligently portrayed in this powerful video.
A captivating blend of mysticism, spirituality, fervour and joy characterize a Balinese cremation, a spectacular artistic display of ancient rites. Joyous because it represents a cleansing of the spirit and its liberation, freeing it for reincarnation by returning it to the five elements of water, earth, fire (or light), air and sky. The ritual known as Ngaben, which means ‘turn to ash’, is considered to be the last and most important rite in the cycle of a Balinese Hindu life, a coming together of nature worship and the ecstatic union of the spiritual and the aesthetic.
Unforgettable images inspire a sense of awe: hypnotic chanting, wafting incense, wild-eyed mythical sculptures depicting supernatural figures, ornate temples – a tapestry of burnished golds and reds. Flutes, gamelans and drums are intercut with solemn white-robed Brahmin priests and bejewelled royal elders bedecked in towering majestic crowns and gilded silks, whispering fervent incantations, hands heavily adorned with elaborate rings, pressed together against the forehead in prayer.
The intimate camera invites us in, sharing intensely private moments of devotion – then soars to a sweeping birds’ eye view of rooflines and treetops framed by misty mountains before quickly pulling us into the escalating excitement.
Mounting musical tension underscores thousands of singing and cheering people who race ahead and alongside the 24 meter tall teetering winged cremation tower or bade, which represents the Hindu universe. The number of tiers reflects the status of the deceased. On this day, power lines had to be cut to accommodate the extraordinary nine- storey structure, built upon a grid of bamboo scaffolding and carried by up to 50 strong men who dashed down the procession route in intermittent bursts, pausing to change teams along the way. Their faces strain as they lift the multi-ton pagoda-like structure intently observed by a panoply of police and military sporting heavy artillery and festooned with medals. Some participate. Some play to the camera.
Thousands of villagers pack the streets as far as the eye can see and fill every available balcony along the route. Multiple political figures are present, along with tourists in overly casual denim, baggy tee-shirts and fanny packs dotted among the throngs of sleekly groomed Balinese women in elegant traditional lace and designer sunglasses, bearing baskets of fruit artfully balanced on their heads.
Leading the way, carried atop another huge bamboo scaffold is the giant black and gold bull sarcophagus, its bulging eyes intended to frighten away intrusive evil spirits. It’s into this massive flamboyant eight meter tall structure that the deceased body will be placed and set alight at the end of the procession when the ashes will be released to the sea.
This exuberant and heavily orchestrated cremation for Agung, who died in January, was the largest ever. As consort to the king of Ubud, she and her husband were hugely important historical figures in this remarkable area of Bali whose royal ruling families date as far back as the 10th century.
In pre-colonial Bali, palaces were the primary patrons of art, music, dance and literature, an endeavour to which the late king and his wife devoted their energies (and which continues to this day under the leadership of the ruling princes who oversee all things sacred and secular) gaining profound respect from its people, a love and respect so vividly captured in this reverent video and given emotional voice by the compassionate piano.
Full Video Here: http://bit.ly/2M6GX4y
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