Everybody is affected differently by the news of the loss of a loved one. The reaction to that news subsequently takes different shapes all throughout the world since cultures celebrate life and pay respect to the deceased in often-unique ways. Let’s examine seven various funeral rites. You will be amazed by knowing this 7 Unique Global Burial Rituals.
7 Unique Global Burial Rituals
7) Sky Burial
Buddhists in Tibet who value sending their loved ones’ souls to heaven frequently bury their loved ones in the sky. In this practise, bodies are frequently dismembered and placed outside for birds and other creatures to consume. This embraces the circle of life and provides food for animals while also eliminating the now empty vessel of the body and allows the soul to exit.
6) Famadihana Burial
The funeral custom known as Famadihana in Madagascar is best described as “dancing with the dead.” Every few years, the Malagasy people open the tombs of their deceased and re-wrap them in brand-new burial robes. Every time the dead receive new clothing, they also do a new dance in front of the tomb as music plays all around. By performing the “turning of the bones” rite, the dead’s spirits are urged towards the afterlife and the process of decomposition is sped up.
5) Water Burial
Water has been embraced by many cultures, particularly those in the Nordic region, in their rites of choice for the dead, ranging from placing coffins atop cliffs that face the water to actually using the water as a burial ground. Some people give the bodies back to the gods or locations that the locals hold in the highest regard by setting the bodies adrift on “death ships,” either along a river or out into the ocean.
4) The Parade
There are various ways to honour the life of the deceased. A custom from Varanasi, India, entails escorting the corpse through the streets while wearing clothing that emphasises the virtues of the person who has passed away (such as crimson for purity or yellow for intelligence). The bodies are then doused with Ganges River water and burnt at the main crematory of the town in an effort to inspire spirits to find salvation and break the cycle of rebirth.
3) Tower of Silence
Vultures are necessary for one Zoroastrian tradition’s ongoing funeral process. According to ancient tradition, elevating a corpse to the sky for vultures to consume was the only option because it is thought that a dead body defiles everything it comes into contact with, including the earth and fire. Before cutting off the garments with instruments that will later be destroyed, the body is cleaned with bull’s urine. The body is subsequently positioned atop a Tower of Silence, away from any contaminates among the living.
2) Ashes to Death Beads
Even while cremation is a common part of burial customs all across the world, South Koreans have taken it a step further by converting the ashes of the deceased into beads. These beads are shiny and come in a variety of hues, including turquoise, pink, and black. The beads can then be displayed prominently inside a home, making them a more attractive. Alternative to a traditional urn when placed inside glass vases or even open in plates. Getting something beautiful out of the procedure provides loved ones a new custom to embrace and an heirloom to appreciate in a nation where space is at a premium and cremation is increasingly the only viable option for burying the deceased.
1) An Array of Filipino Traditions
Because there are so many different burial customs in the Philippines, we were unable to fulfil our pledge to share seven of them. While the Benguet people blindfold their dead before setting them on chairs at the front of the house. The Tinguian people adorn the deceased in the most elaborate clothing and put the body on a chair, frequently lighting a cigarette in the lips. Children attending funerals in Cebu are dressed in crimson to reduce the likelihood that they would encounter ghosts. In the Sagada region, coffins are hung from cliffs to help the souls of the dead go closer to heaven. Whereas in Cavite, the dead are frequently buried vertically in a tree that had been carved out by the person before death. Filipino burial rites have a richness that is unmatched due to the diversity of the country’s regions.
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