Ngaben is a purification ceremony atma (soul) as the first phase of Balinese Hindu sacred obligation of his ancestors with burial procession. As I wrote in the article about yadnya Pitra, the human body consists of a rough body, subtle bodies and karma. Coarse human body is formed of five elements which are called Panca Maha Bhuta the Earth (solid), apah (liquid), Teja (hot substance) wind (air) and akasa (space). The five elements are fused to form human physical and driven by the atma (soul). When a man dies who dies is just a rough body, not his atma. So cremation is a purification process atma / soul leaving the body rough.There are several opinions about the origin of the word Ngaben. Some say Ngaben of Beya word which means lunch, there is also a reply saying the word ngabu (ashes), etc..
In Hinduism it is believed that Lord Brahma the creator god as well as also is the god of fire. So cremation is a process of purification of the spirit by using the means of fire so they can go back to the creator of Brahma. The fire is the fire which is used to burn the bodies of concrete and abstract form fire spells to her pastor pralina of burning impurities inherent in atma / soul.
Cremation ceremony or ritual Pelebon often referred to those who died, are considered very important, busy and vibrant, because the family was able to liberate pengabenan spirit of the deceased from earthly ties to heaven, or transformed back into the world through rienkarnasi. Because of this ceremony requires effort, cost and length of time and large, this is often done so long after death.
To bear the burden of costs, labor and others, now people often do pengabenan mass / together. The bodies of the dead are buried before fees sufficient, but for some families that can afford cremation ceremony can be performed as soon as possible to keep the bodies of people who have died at home, while waiting for a good time. During the period of storage in the house, the spirits of the dead became restless and always want freedom.
Good day is usually given by the priests after consultation and existing calendar. Preparation is usually taken away before the day of well-defined. At the time of preparing this family "and bade bulls" made of bamboo, wood, paper of various colors in accordance with the class or socioeconomic status families concerned.