Bali villagers honour ancestors in Ngusaba Puseh ceremony
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Raw, unbridled passion marks the annual Ngusaba Puseh ceremony, in which residents of Selumbung village in Bali's Karangasem District celebrate their lost ancestors and show gratitude to their deity.
Men parade with ceremonial daggers, called 'keris', dance and chant among their huts in a jungle setting filled with a sea of aromatic smoke from fires fulled by - among other things - coconut shells.
All in attendance, both men and women, are in a mesmerising trance during the September 11 ceremony.
Some men are seen so deep in the state they are able to stab the keris into their own chests without so much as a whimper, while priests prepare offerings to their deities and those local who are no longer with them.
Selumbung has a population of about 3,000 residents and is found in the sparsely populated east of Bali, where laid-back coastal villages can be found far from party central Kuta in the south.
A man stabs his chest with two short ceremonial daggers, known as 'keris', while in a state of trance during a sacred ritual of Ngusaba Puseh in Bali
Those paying homage to their ancestors get into trance-like states - this man dances while wearing a sacred Rangda mask in Selumbung Village
Clad in white and each holding 'keris' daggers, men arrived at Puseh Temple to honour their ancesters and God with the sacred ritual on September 11
Women dance, while in a trance-like state during the once-a-year ritual in Selumbung village in Bali's Karangasem
Palanquins, their symbol of God, are carried while men dance with knives, some stabbing themselves in a trance
Priests prepare offerings ahead of the Ngusaba Puseh ritual at Selumbung Village
A villager bites a short ceremonial dagger while taking the weight of a Palanquin
Coconuts burn on the ground as entranced dancers in various costumes pay tribute to their deity and ancestors
Fire and symbols of god make up the most prominent aspects of the ceremony
A barong is carried during the sacred Ngusaba Puseh at Selumbung Village
The village of Selumbung in Bali's remote east has only about 3000 residents
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