Disposal of Corpse: Tibetan’s way
Lord Buddha puts it forward, “You too shall pass away.” Death, inevitable one, is the closure of one’s life time and religions has its way to clear it up to satisfy both real and purgatory state. Hindu burn their dead, while christen bury them and so has other religion its way of disposal of corpse. Whereas Ancient Egyptians used to mummify their dead and sailors throw corpses into the sea. The ways of disposal of corpse and the funeral process signifies the diversity in the globe.
Tibet is an autonomous region of People Republic of China where Vajrayana Buddhism is practiced most and has its influence in the nearby countries it such as Mongolia, Bhutan and Himalayan region of Nepal and India. Death as it is, is not celebrated by people here but it is a crucial part of life which defines his/her purgatory and next life. Tibetan practice almost every ways of disposal of corpse which is instructed by Chiwa (a learned Scholar who decides when important event shall be carried out, creates calendar, and inspect corpse) based on his calculation made by performing rites. The four elements; fire, water, earth and air is taken into consideration for defining the ways of disposal. Corpse is burned to meet fire element, buried to meet earth, thrown into water sources to meet water element and finally cut into pieces and fed to scavengers to meet the air element.
When a person dies, the corpse is not touched until Chiwa arrives who inspect the corpse and decide what needs to be done depending upon which are based on death time and other factors. He/she tells when and by which way corpse shall be returned to the one of the four element. The date of funeral may extend upto week for which the body is made to cover less space as possible and earth is brought from field, which must little wet, and corpse is laid upon it. People here also believe on zombies which is prevented by breaking the Neck bone and laying the head down. Some funeral may take place the very day a person dies and it all depend on Chiwa’s calculation. Returning body into fire is considered safe which is believed to prevent spread of diseases (if any) whereas burying is not taken as good symbol. Likewise disposal into water and air is considered virtuous as body feed the hungry scavenger and aquatic animals. And finally there is another way of disposal of corpse i.e. by keeping the body in the walls of house. The body is covered by salt to prevent smell and then finally covered by blanket and placed in the wall of house and wall is scripted with holy words. While this form of disposal is rare as it is performed only when a men dies without any grand children or when a child dies with parents wish to have another children. When a child is born to the family then the wall is broken and corpse is returned back to the four elements. In this way Tibetan perform various ways of disposal of corpse and following the funerals death rites are carried out after every 7 days for 7 times. And during the seventh death rites, the last rite is carried out which is relatively more important. On this day, near and dear ones perform puja and prays all day long. Feast gathering is done and gracious gift (Tsok) is distributed. This day (Ghe-wa), symbolizes the end of death rites and it helps accumulate virtue to guide the soul of the deceased during the process of reincarnation.
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