Unusual burial practices in Tibet

The custom of burial of dead people in Tibet is very diverse with special explanations of the soul and life, including the cremation, cremation or cremation.

Located isolated at an altitude of 5,000m above sea level in the Himalayas, Tibet is almost unaffected by external society. It has an extremely harsh climate, plus the religious reasons that the burial of the dead in Tibet is very diverse. However, depending on the status, each member of society will be buried in different ways.

Cremation

This is the most noble and sacred funeral ritual in Tibet, dedicated to the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama and the Living Buddha. When a lama passed away, their bodies were drained and marinated in rare and precious herbs, and spread yellow and saffron leaves throughout their bodies. After that, the corpse was transferred to the stupa and preserved carefully for worship. Stupa can be made from gold, silver, copper, wood or even land. This is decided based on the rank of the lama.

Resting place of lamas in the form of burial tower.(Photo: Tibet Vista).

Cremation

Cremation is considered less noble than a funeral tower, reserved for high priests and nobility. Accordingly, the corpse will be placed on straw and wood to burn. The ashes of the monk were put into wooden boxes or earthenware, buried at the top of a hill, a sacred piece of land or brought to the mountain to spread along the wind or into the river. Particularly, the ashes of the Living Buddha or Lama are often placed in small gold and silver towers and kept with ancient Buddhist books and treasures.

Cremation (Cremation)

Cremation is the most common form of burial in Tibet, as a way for humans to devote the body for the last time to heaven and earth, enabling the soul to fly up and reborn again. However, cremation often creates a scary feeling because the Tibetans put the body on the mountain as bait for hungry vultures.

Cremation is often applied to ordinary people or rich people. In basic burial, the body of the people is taken to the mountain and let the vulture birds find themselves. As for the rich, the body was washed clean, wrapped in white cloth and prayed by the lamas to bring the soul out of hell.

In the journey to eternity, the body will be brought to the mountain by the group of riders, divided into pieces to make it easier for the vultures to do the work. From the Tibetan point of view, the more the birds eat, the more dead they can completely escape. Then, when the birds flew up, their souls followed the bird wings and flew up to the sky.

Thien burial at Larung Gar Buddhist Academy.(Photo: Tibet Travel).

Thuy burial

In the water body, the corpse is wrapped in white cloth and floated away from the river. There are two different views on this form. In popular burial places, water burial is considered to be a low way, used to burial beggars or low-status people in society. On the contrary, in places where it is impossible to carry out a wide range of cremation and waterbending, it is widely accepted with sacred and solemn rules.

Burial

Burial is often applied in southern Tibet and by monks deciding which funeral method will suit the dead. Accordingly, the corpse will be placed in a wooden box and taken to a cave at the cliff 50-300 meters above the ground.

Burial

In contrast to other parts of the world, burial (burial) is the lowest form, applicable only to plague or murderers. Geography has two meanings: one is to eliminate the spread of disease, the other is to punish the dead by bringing them to hell.