Burial traditions around the world

Do you have your funeral planned? Maybe you  have heard a song on the radio and know that is what you want played while throngs of people cry and wail at your passing?  Maybe you have decided you want to be buried in a cemetery, or maybe you’ve decided to be cremated? Well, here in Australia, you have a couple more options, but not too many. However, before you make your decisions, I wanted to share with you some traditions from around the world.

I’m heading off to South America soon, so I started looking at their traditions and ceremonies first.

Puno, Peru

In Peru, on the shores of Lake Umayo, pre-Incan people, the Aymara built towers called Chulpas, where they buried mummified corpses. The inside of the towers represent the womb and the mummies were buried in the fetal position representing rebirth. Probably only the VIP’s of their time were buried in these Chulpas.

Nasca, Peru

The Chauchilla cemetery had been used for a period of anywhere between the 3rd and 9th century, but the most important burials belong to 600 – 700. The Nascas mummified their dead and placed them here with a range of valuables. The bodies are remarkably preserved due mainly to the dry climate in the desert but the funeral rites were also a contributing factor. The bodies were clothed in embroidered cotton and then painted with a resin. The resin is thought to have slowed bacteria trying to feed on the bodies.

Ratanakiri province Cambodia

The ethnic minorities of northeast Cambodia, like the Tompuon people at Kachon village, bury their dead in some rather elaborate graves in the forest. The concrete tombs can have fences, wooden elephant tusks, thatched roof and the entrance is guarded by carved statues of the deceased (man and wife are buried at the same place) – some with very explicit genitals. The cranium of the buffalo that got sacrificed during the burial ceremony hangs at the front and the family of the deceased often places things that the dead can use in afterlife like bottles, pots, local whiskey, and even sunglasses.

Litang, Sichuan Province China

Sky burial is a Tibetan custom for giving back the earthly remains after death, when the soul has left the body for reincarnation. The Tibetan plateau is scarce of firewood and the ground is often frozen, too hard to dig a grave, so the Tibetans practice sky burial. The deceased is simply offered to vultures as a part of the Buddhism belief in reincarnation. After days of prayer and blessings the body is taken to the sky burial site on the mountain and unwrapped. Vultures arrive and wait patiently, while the naked body is neatly sliced open by the rogyapa (the man who works the knife). As soon as he stands away from the body, the birds start to dine furiously on it. With fierce fighting and great speed the vultures strip the flesh from the bones, while pieces of human are flying everywhere. After the body is ripped for flesh, the bones and skull are crushed and mixed with barley flour by the rogyapa. The last thing to be mixed in is the brain, before the birds are invited to dine again. The last part of the ritual is to burn any remains.

Sulawesi

In Sulawesi, (formerly known as Celebes is an island in Indonesia), the Toraja people have several ways to get buried. Babies can get buried inside a trunk of a particularly chosen tree. Grown ups can get a house grave in a more normal looking mausoleum made of concrete and tiles. A more fascinating burial tradition are the cave graves, where a small cave is hollowed out of a boulder and mounted with small door and maybe guarded by tau-tau statues who looks like the deceased. This kind of graves are still in use today. Previously they also hang the coffins inside natural caves. There a family could have a hanging coffin and restuff it every time a family member passed away. Though this tradition has more or less eased out, there are still a lot of hanging coffins left in the Tana Toraja region, some not dating more than 20 years back.

Southwest China

The mysterious Bo people of the Hemp Pond Valley in Southwest China’s Gongxian County flourished for millennia before they were massacred by the Ming Dynasty over five centuries ago. Today, the Bo are almost completely forgotten, save for the dramatic hanging coffins they have left behind, a haunting array of wooden caskets that extend from the rock face to a height of almost 300 feet. Located just above the Crab Stream, the 160 coffins were placed along the cliffs and within natural caves, with some resting on wooden posts that extend out from the cliffside. The precipice itself features many murals that are painted with bright cinnabar red colours, many of which depict the lives of the Bo people. Today, the locals refer to the long-lost civilization by such names as “Sons of the Cliffs” and “Subjugators of the Sky.” But why they interred their dead in this way remains a complete mystery.

If you want to find out more about planning funerals here, head over to my website http://communityfuneralservice.com.au/ and don’t hesitate to connect with me if I can assist with anything.