Funeral ceremonies have changed throughout history due to cultural and religious reasons. Leaving it in water, burning it, burying it… We see that in beliefs that believe in the liberation of the soul, the body is also included in this journey of freedom in different ways.
Open-air funerals are a traditional ritual with a history dating back over 1000 years. According to research, although there are more than 1100 types of ceremonies in Tibet, leaving the corpses to birds of prey is the ceremony that attracts the most attention of people from different cultures.
Who thought of that?
As we go back in history, we can see the tradition of leaving corpses in open areas in many civilizations. The tradition that we can call ‘open air funeral tradition’ has a long history of thousands of years.
In ancient times, when people in China began to understand death, they gained the belief that bodies with liberated souls would rise to the sky with the wings of the birds they considered sacred. These funeral ceremonies, which we have seen in Tibet, can still be seen in India and China.
To better understand the ceremony, let’s take a look at the belief.
There are those who see Buddhism, which has millions of believers all over the world since its birth in India, as a belief system that carries the teachings of Buddha or a new interpretation of Hinduism.
The structure of the belief has enabled the formation of a new sect in every culture in which it has spread. The second sect of Buddhism, known as the Northern School, spread to India, Tibet, China, then Korea and Japan.
What do we know about the origins of open-air funerals?
“tiān zàng (天葬)”, which means “open air funeral” in Chinese, means leaving the dead body on the ground and being eaten by wild animals.
In the Book of Changes, one of the oldest classical texts of China, it is mentioned that in ancient times, the body of the deceased was wrapped and left in an area, and this area was not spared and was not afforested.
After death…
In Tibetan Buddhism, in order to achieve the desired rebirth, the person’s body is buried in accordance with the belief in the basic elements of fire, water, earth and air, which come from Hinduism. It is believed that the body nourishes the other elements regardless of where it is buried; Burning it with fire represents supernatural beings, releasing it into water represents fish, burying it in the ground represents worms, and releasing it into the open field represents predatory animals.
There are three basic types of burial: cremation, immersion in water, and ascension of the soul to the heavens. In Tibetan language, the soul’s ascension to the skies means ‘jha-tor’, meaning giving alms to the birds.
According to Tibetan beliefs, a person should always do good until the last day of his life and his dead body should be given as feed to the birds. Tibetans believe that their relatives will be liberated by ceremonially carrying them to high hills and giving them to vultures, birds of prey.
According to the information disclosed, there are approximately 2000 sky ceremony areas on the Tibetan plateau.
In the areas, the largest of which is located in Drigung Til Monastery, ceremonies are held where the corpse is carried into the sky by birds. Every stage of the funeral ceremony is carefully planned to prevent evil spirits from harming the body and the soul that has left the body. The monks are seen quietly whispering hymns until the body is taken from the monastery to the area where it will be offered to the birds.
When you arrive at the area, birds of prey are summoned with incense. Prayer flags hang around and the smell of burning juniper purifies the air from evil. The body is offered to the vultures and waited in silence until only the bones remain. The bones are collected, broken into pieces, rolled in barley flour and presented again to the vultures.
We can see different practices in the details of the ceremony.
In some ceremonies, the body goes through ceremonies and practices before being left to the vultures. In some cases, although there are ceremonies, the body is presented to the vultures without any treatment. According to different sources, the skull of the deceased was also processed separately. As a result, we understand that each monastery has different practices.
At the origins of Tibet’s weather ceremonies are people who consider the influence of geography and climate.
The country has passages between mountains only in the eastern region; The climate is dry, summers are short and nights are always cold. Researchers suggest that burial cannot be done due to the climate, and cremation cannot be done due to the scarcity of trees, and they think this affects this choice.
When two large monasteries where sky ceremonies take place are examined, the presence of forested areas is observed and the perception of the transience of the body is underlined according to religious sources.
The Chinese government banned this custom in 1956.
In 1974, permission was granted again due to the intense requests of the Tibetan people and monks. In 1985, three temporary rules were introduced to preserve the tradition, and after thirty years, the rules became law.
Wangqug, a monk living in Tibet, told the Global Times that despite increasing modernization, about 70 to 80 percent of Tibetans still prefer to be buried in the sky and perform a final act of charity by giving their meat to feed the birds.
Charity, impermanence, rebirth…
Believing that the body is no longer important, that it is free and that it can be of use after the soul leaves, Tibetans stand by their loved ones throughout the process, no matter how difficult it is to see. It seems that the believers in this extraordinary ceremony, which will continue to continue, just want to be respected and be able to continue their ceremonies.
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