Alms to the birds of fate. Tibetan vultures are poisoned by stale human flesh Tibet. Feeding remains to vultures
Heavenly funeral
Tibet was and remains for many of us a civilization that we cannot understand. Curiosity about this mysterious land is also spurred by the fact that Tibetan sages and monks look at the rest of the world with eyes that reveal either indifference or arrogance. It is claimed that Tibetan lamas can “enter” the bodies of deceased people and live in this new state. Some llamas are mysteriously able to preserve their flesh after death without signs of decomposition for two weeks. This is done so that the consciousness of the students has the opportunity to penetrate the body of the teacher and master the entire wealth of his knowledge and wisdom..
Scientists at Columbia University were present at a similar act in 1987. Later, the Dalai Lama explained to them that tantric technique allows the consciousness of students to penetrate the body of a dead teacher and receive all his knowledge and life experience, for memory is not the brain. But for this promotion to be successful, you need to practice a lot.
But the great yogi Dharma Dhode (son of Lama Marpa) reached such heights of control of his energy flows and consciousness that he could leave his body, penetrate the body of the deceased and exist in it as if in his own. That is, he could speak, move, think... He repeatedly demonstrated all this to his students.
It seems that Tibetan monks are more interested in death, the most mysterious state of matter, more than life.
In 1950, Chinese troops occupied Tibet, and the new government began to implement a powerful and merciless anti-religious campaign. Thousand-year-old monasteries and temples were closed everywhere. To assimilate the Tibetans, forced marriages with the Chinese and their deportation to the interior of the country were widely practiced. At the same time, the flow of refugees to India was constantly increasing. By 1960, more than 100 thousand Tibetans, led by the Dalai Lama, had concentrated there. Fortunately, later the repressions stopped, but Tibet remains Chinese, and the Chinese look at the philosophy of Buddhism with skepticism, including the terrible ritual of “heavenly funeral”.
Near the city of Lhasa, the former capital of Tibet, there are several monasteries known for their strange traditions. Many people know about them, but no one comes here specifically to see the “heavenly funeral” - this is pointless and very dangerous for two reasons. Firstly, if a curious person is caught trying to spy on the “heavenly funeral”, he will face ten years in Chinese prison. Secondly, if someone manages to spy on them, this will certainly have an adverse effect on the psyche of the “lucky one”, and maybe even destroy it altogether.
In every Lhasa hotel room you will see notices in seven languages:
“According to the laws of the Chinese government, in our city it is strictly prohibited to visit, be present and take photographs at the site of the “heavenly funeral” - the funeral ceremony of Tibetan monks. It is an ancient custom of a small part of the Tibetan population. Tourists who violate this rule will be punished to the fullest extent of the law."
“Heavenly funeral” is a kind of ritual of the monks, during which the corpse is cut into small pieces with knives and fed to vultures. In the nearest suburb of Lhasa, behind the Sera Monastery, at the foot of the mountains there is a huge flat stone that looks like a slab. It is this that is the last refuge of the dead monks, who, according to legend, ascend from it into the skies.
Before starting the main operation, the funeral master drinks strong monastery beer. They say in order to dull the sensations of the upcoming work of dismembering the deceased and further crushing the tissues of his body.
Several knives and a powerful sledgehammer are prepared for the operation. The entire work takes him 3–5 hours. To prevent the corpse from sliding off the blood-soaked stone, it is tied to a horn-shaped ledge on the slab with many ropes.
The master's task is to chop the corpse into the smallest pieces that the voracious vultures could easily swallow. But first the corpse is dismembered. Within an hour, the head, arms, legs, intestines, lungs, liver, heart were neatly laid out on a stone slab...
The master of the funeral ceremony literally dismantles the skeleton of the deceased, bone by bone, and then crushes them into powder using a sledgehammer. This work takes up most of the operation. It is labor intensive and requires strength and endurance. Next, the executioner mixes bone dust with small pieces of meat (either in a special vat or directly on a stone slab), adding barley and yak fat. These two ingredients are very loved by vultures; their smell plus blood attracts flocks of vultures to the stone with “dishes”. To make the ceremony solemn and attract more vultures, many small fires are lit around the stove. Moreover, they are lit so that there is less fire, but a lot of smoke: it is at this moment that the master leaves a bloody mess with seasonings on the stone and leaves to finish the beer, leaving the mission of ascension of the dead man to heaven to the vultures already circling in the sky. The terrible feast continues for several hours, and sometimes even a day. Fat, multi-feathered vultures with hooked beaks dripping blood slowly eat the remains of the deceased monk, who, by the way, during his lifetime knew very well what the last hours of his mortal body would be on earth.
The vultures are waiting
Local residents know the customs of the monks and do not try to spy on the ritual. It seems very strange that the only spectators of the “heavenly funeral” may be the inhabitants of the local prison. It is located on a hill at a distance of 500–700 meters from the ritual slab. It was as if the architects of the dungeon had special intentions in choosing the place so that the criminals would have something to look at, and then think carefully about the vanity of earthly things. But whether the prisoners are watching the “heavenly funeral” or whether they are not violating the sacraments of the monastic performance with their curiosity - no one knows.
The feast of vultures is over. Only the dried blood on the stone slab reminds us of a “heavenly funeral.” But the rain will pass, the stone will again become clean and smooth and begin to patiently wait for its next “guest”.
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“Sky burial” jhator (Wiley: bya gtor) is the main type of burial in Tibet and in a number of areas adjacent to Tibet. It is also called "giving alms to birds." According to Tibetan beliefs, the soul leaves the body at the moment of death, and a person should try to be useful at all stages of life. Therefore, the dead body is fed to the birds as a final act of charity.
Many Tibetans still consider this method of burial to be the only possible one. An exception is made only for the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. After death, their bodies are embalmed and covered with gold.
First, I will show you the official artistic vision of this ritual, and then there will be an ordinary everyday report - that’s where the real shit is. So I warned you...
Photo 1. 
“City of Prayer Flags” is a site created for burial in the vicinity of the Chalang Monastery. Dari County, Qinghai Province, Golog Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, November 5, 2007. Photo: China Photos/Getty Images
Sky burials are practiced throughout Tibetan territory, including some Indian territories such as Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.
Photo 2. 
Relatives of the deceased pray during a burial ceremony in the “City of Prayer Flags,” a burial site set up in the vicinity of Chalang Monastery.
In 1959, when the Chinese authorities finally gained a foothold in Tibet, the ritual was completely prohibited. Since 1974, after numerous requests from monks and Tibetans, the Chinese government has allowed the Sky Burial to resume.
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The vultures gathered in the “City of Prayer Flags,” a burial site set up in the vicinity of the Chalang Monastery.
There are now about 1,100 sites for the rite of heavenly burial. The ritual is performed by special people - rogyapas.
Photo 5. 
Rogyapa ("gravedigger") sharpens a knife before a burial ceremony in the "City of Prayer Flags."
When a Tibetan dies, his body is placed in a sitting position and he “sits” for 24 hours while the lama reads prayers from the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
These prayers are intended to help the soul progress through the 49 levels of bardo, the state between death and rebirth.
3 days after death, a close friend of the deceased carries him on his back to the burial place.
Rogyapa first makes many cuts on the body and gives the body over to the birds - the vultures do most of the work, eating all the flesh.
The body is destroyed without a trace; in Tibetan Buddhism it is believed that in this way it is easier for the soul to leave the body in order to find a new one.
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Tibetans believe that everyone should see the rite of heavenly burial at least once in their life in order to realize and feel all the fleetingness and ephemerality of life.
Photo 7. 
Rogyapa ("gravedigger") prays before a burial ceremony in the "City of Prayer Flags". The surroundings of the Chalang monastery. For burial, a rogyapa receives up to 100 yuan (about $13.5). Dari County, Qinghai Province, Golog Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, November 5, 2007. Photo: China Photos/Getty Images
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Rogyapa crushes the bones of the deceased during the burial ceremony
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Rogyapa feeds the meat of the deceased to vultures
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Rogyapa cuts the body of the deceased
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Rogyapa prays during the burial ceremony
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Rogyapa ("gravedigger"), having finished his work, drinks tea with his family.
And now reporting without cultural embellishment, just business as usual.
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In general, first the body is brought to the valley
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Then they unpack
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Then they tie the body to a peg and cut
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The Chinese government has announced its intention to take tight control over Tibetan funerals. The ancient tradition, according to which the bodies of the dead are left in the open air for vultures to eat, is, according to environmentalists, very harmful to the health of birds.
The Chinese government has announced its intention to take tight control of Tibetan sky funerals.
The ancient tradition, according to which the bodies of the dead are left in the open air for vultures to eat, is, according to environmentalists, very harmful to the health of birds.
The corpse of a deceased relative is tied by the neck to a stake driven into the ground so that vultures cannot drag away the remains. After this, the skin of the deceased is cut - this makes it easier for birds to eat.
According to China's Ministry of Nature Conservation, unexplained cases of vulture deaths have become more frequent recently. Officials attribute this to poisoning from stale human meat.
One dead man is enough to feed a whole flock
Tibetans arrange a sky burial for people who died from various diseases and infections. Birds come into contact with carriers of the infection and, in addition to dying themselves, spread it throughout the country, Commissioner for Tibetan Territories Yun Hui shared his fears. - Therefore, we will make sure that the birds do not eat anything, in particular those who died from AIDS or various types of influenza.
The Tibetan community perceived the prohibition to bury people who died from illness according to established religious rites extremely negatively. It considers these measures another step towards establishing official control over their religion.
Hungry birds gnaw a Tibetan to the bone
By the way, if the customs of the Tibetans seem barbaric to someone, then it is worth remembering that many tribes living on the territory of modern Russia did the same, and, for example, Mordovians observed this ritual until the end of the 19th century.
Before burial, our ancestors placed the remains of the deceased on a shield fixed above the ground. A year later, the bones, gnawed by predators, were buried. Hence the modern tradition of holding funeral services every other year. This custom was dictated by the desire not to desecrate the nursing land with rotting flesh.
The remains are carefully collected
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You can learn more about this from the interesting book “The Unknown Himalayas” by the author Himanshu Joshi.
Sky burial is one of the three types of burials used in Tibet. The other two are cremation and throwing into the river.
Sky burial is called "jha-tor" in Tibetan, which means "giving alms to birds." According to Tibetan beliefs, the soul leaves the body at the moment of death, and a person should try to do good at all stages of life, so the dead body is fed to birds as a final act of charity.
There are about 1,100 heavenly burial sites in Tibet. The largest is located in the Drigung Til monastery. The ritual is performed by special people called Rogyaps.
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All people come into this world the same way and leave it the same way. Each of us at least once thought about what would happen there - beyond life and death. Will we feel, will we continue to exist, will we meet our loved ones? We also believe in: rebirth, heaven and hell, castes, rewards and punishments. It is the duty of loved ones to accompany the deceased on their final journey with dignity, observing the rituals and traditions of their faith. In every country, funeral ceremonies are unique and inimitable: in some places they are beautiful and magnificent, in others they are shocking and incomprehensible. Eyewitnesses who managed to visit them tell about why they are interesting in Asian countries.
NEPAL
Nepal is the last Hindu kingdom, a mysterious country surrounded by the highest mountains in the world. Despite the fact that today an increasing number of tourists visit Nepal, it still remains one of the most mysterious and original places on Earth. Traditions are sacredly respected and observed here, especially those related to funerals.
When you come to the Pashupatinath temple complex, it seems that time stopped here about 400-500 years ago: amazing, almost ringing silence, medieval temples and small bonfires along the banks of the sacred Bagmati River. Finding myself here for the first time, I boldly moved towards the smoking fires, not knowing what it was. Imagine my surprise when I saw that this was a real cremation, which took place in front of the visitors of the temple, as a matter of course. The guide, who noticed my absence, hurriedly caught up with me and explained that being cremated on the banks of the Bagmati was a great honor for any Nepalese Hindu. “The ashes that are thrown into the river are eventually carried away by the current into the Ganges, and there they reach the feet of the god Shiva, which means that the deceased has a chance to avoid further rebirths or at least reduce their number.”
I must say that the Bagmati is a very small, almost dry river, and I doubt that it really flows into the Ganges and does not break off around the bend. However, the Nepalese know better: for the cremation of one body they spend up to 400 kilograms of firewood, which costs them a tidy sum. And since the standard of living here is quite low, few people can afford such a luxury for their loved ones, even if people have been saving for funerals for years. How do they get out of this situation? “They buy as much firewood as they can,” the guide says calmly, and this means only one thing - the body is not completely burned. Despite this, it is still thrown into the waters of the river, because at least some part of the ritual has been completed.
First, the deceased is undressed and his clothes and personal belongings are lowered into the river, some of which are caught and kept by residents of nearby villages - this does not bother anyone. Nor does the polluted river bother the women who wash their clothes there. The guide explains that the waters of the sacred river cannot be dirty, even if it seems so. It is considered a good sign to wash your hands and face in it, which is what I do so as not to offend my Nepalese comrades. It’s an amazing thing: it doesn’t seem dirty to me either - I wash my hands and understand that everything that happens here is not at all strange and certainly not scary. If such a picture had appeared before me in some other place, I would not have been able to recover from the shock for a long time, but in Nepal this is something that goes without saying. This is one of the few places on Earth where you come to terms with the very fact of death, beginning to understand that this is a natural process: logical conclusion. The people in white robes who participate in the cremation are calm, and some are even cheerful. The Nepalese are sure that in such cases they should say “bon voyage” and not mourn the dead, because each death of the physical body brings the soul closer to the coveted immortality. Then she will be born again and, perhaps, in much better conditions and in a healthier body, if, of course, in her previous life she completed all the tasks assigned to her.
We go to the exit, and I continue, enchanted, to look towards the fires. The guide says that some Nepalese are buried in the ground, not having money to buy any amount of firewood, although this is not very good for the soul. All hope is for the next, much better rebirth, where they will certainly be able to bury him according to all the rules of the religion to which the person will belong.
Svetlana Kuzina
VIETNAM
Previously, I had no idea that I would be watching with interest the burial process, and even filming it. Although at first it didn’t look like a funeral at all.
Walking through the town of Sapa, which is located in the mountains of Northern Vietnam, I suddenly saw a noisy procession with drums, pipes, flags and banners, which consisted of cheerful people. I noticed that there were a bunch of photocopies of American dollars on the banners, and tried to guess what kind of holiday the locals were celebrating. However, when a bus appeared around the bend, reminding me of a hearse from which someone was throwing out the same photocopies of American money, I realized that in front of me was a funeral procession.
The bus stopped at the cemetery gates, people carried the coffin out and carried it up the mountain in their arms. Soon a cloud appeared, plunging the cemetery into thick fog and hiding it from me. I didn’t decide to go up and continue filming right away, but curiosity got the better of me - I headed towards the churchyard. Sorrow appeared on the faces of people who seemed cheerful a few minutes ago, and now this funeral was no different from the ones we were used to.
A place in a Vietnamese cemetery costs about a thousand dollars, but this considerable amount, by local standards, is always available. Families here are large, and collecting money from relatives is not difficult.
The funeral dragged on: relatives and friends said goodbye to the deceased for more than an hour. After the burial, relatives sprinkled liquid from a bottle on the grave and scattered grains of rice around. All this time I was walking nearby, watching in amazement as cows grazed a couple of tens of meters from us, leisurely eating grass and flowers on the graves.
After the burial and the necessary rituals, the last to leave the cemetery were apparently the closest relatives - people with white bands on their heads. I left with them and, as I said goodbye, I tried to express my sympathy by placing my hand on my heart. They answered me with a nod.
Ilya Stepanov
BALI (Indonesia)
I was walking along the crowded Kuta beach when I saw in the distance a fire and colorful decorations in the best Balinese traditions. Setting up my camera as I went, I went there in the hope of taking spectacular photographs of the local celebration. Imagine my surprise when it turned out that the scene that interested me was a funeral. One of the participants in the procession, smiling, explained that eight people had died in their village and were being buried. I looked around: fires were burning in the bamboo rectangular structures, and the smell of fried food was clearly felt in the air. People around perceived this process as absolutely natural, there was not a drop of sadness in their eyes.
Funerals in Bali are always a celebration. Relatives consider cremation the best gift to the deceased, since thanks to it the soul can be freed from the body more quickly. Some people start saving money for their last bonfire from childhood, because death and funerals are considered here to be one of the main events that should not be feared. The Balinese believe in rebirth and that the soul will soon begin a new life.
Cremation on the island is not a cheap procedure, so in some cases you have to bury the body and wait until the required amount of money is collected. In addition, the Balinese use the lunar calendar to calculate the most favorable time for the ceremony. If you have to wait a long time, the body is also buried before the cherished date. The Balinese see nothing wrong with later digging up the deceased and cremating them according to all the rules and with due honors.
I moved away to a respectful distance and continued to watch the process. There is a certain wisdom in this approach to death. Since childhood, we have heard that mourning is difficult and bitter, you cannot smile at a funeral, you should grieve for the deceased. For the Balinese, it’s the other way around: crying here means causing suffering to the deceased. Why be sad if a new life will soon begin for him?
Children ran around the fires, adults talked to each other, smiled and laid out treats in special tents that were placed nearby on the grass. A hundred meters away from us, surfers were jumping on the waves, children were collecting shells, tourists were sunbathing on the sand, merchants were offering their goods, completely oblivious to the strange procession and burning bonfires.
Elena Kalina
JAPAN
Most funerals in Japan follow the rites of Buddhism, which is the main religion in the country. On the day of death and the following, a wake is held - karitsueya and hontsuya, and the burial itself takes place only two days later. It is believed that there are auspicious and unfavorable days for funerals, so the dates are coordinated with the priest and the Buddhist calendar. In preparation for cremation, relatives wash and dry the body and then dress it in a white kimono called kyokatabira. The hem of a kimono must be wrapped from right to left, as opposed to the everyday option from left to right. A white headdress is put on the head of the deceased, and straw sandals are put on the feet. After death, the priest gives the deceased a new name “kaimyo” in order not to disturb the soul when the real name of the deceased is mentioned. Before the funeral service, the body is placed in a coffin, sometimes the deceased’s favorite things or sweets are placed there, and relatives and family lay flowers.
A tsuya is required - a night vigil at the coffin, and the next day the body is cremated, which usually takes one to two hours. At the end of the procedure, the family and relatives use chopsticks to collect the remaining bones and place them in one or more urns. The burial of the ashes usually takes place in the family grave, and the name is engraved on the monument or written on a sotoba - a separate wooden tablet that is installed nearby.
After the burial, memorial ceremonies are held, when the whole family gathers together to honor the memory of the deceased and attend services in the temple. During this period, a small Buddhist altar “butsudan” with the names and photographs of the dead is usually installed in the house, on which treats are placed, and incense is lit.
In Japan, it is believed that the souls of the departed return to their homes, which happens once a year - on the autumn festival of O-bon. On these days, traditional food is prepared and paper lanterns are lit.
Tasha Voight
CHINA
We arrived in the village of Zhangjia Xiatsun in the morning darkness and coolness, hoping to meet a familiar tea grower. Despite the early hour, there was no one in the house, and the entire edge of the village was unusually empty and quiet. In search of our host, we walked to a small but very revered Taoist temple, which has always been the main center of this place. There was a lot of activity around the temple; it seemed like the whole village had gathered here.
There we learned that one of the oldest residents had died a few days ago, and the funeral was scheduled for today. My companion knew the old man, and we went to the house of the deceased. Along the street towards the cemetery there were tables with tea supplies, decorated with blue and white paper flowers.
The smell of firecrackers hung at the gates of the deceased’s house; their remains smoked on the ground, but not red ones, as for happy celebrations, but blue ones; Firecrackers are used to notify all neighbors about the imminent time of the funeral: in the village this is considered an invitation, since the closest relatives of the deceased should not enter neighbors' houses until the funeral. The door was removed from its hinges, because the deceased spent the last hours of his life on it: it is believed that if you die in an ordinary bed, then living family members will not be able to sleep on it, so in rich families such a bed is burned, and in poor families they arrange a special bed for the dying using a door and special bedding.
The dying person and the deceased should not be dressed in animal fabrics or leather, because after death the soul can move into a werewolf animal. The best clothes are black and white, made of cotton; in rich families - silk. Relatives wash the body of the deceased, shave the head and mustache, dress him in afterlife clothes, cover the face of the deceased with a piece of silk fabric, and place copper coins, a comb and a mirror in the coffin.
During preparations, one must not lament or shed tears. It is believed that if a tear falls into the coffin, the deceased will not appear to his loved ones in prophetic dreams and will not be able to give advice or warning. The position of the coffin in the house is determined by a Taoist geomancer, calculating the best orientation, according to the rules of Feng Shui. The Taoist also determines the auspicious date of the funeral: sometimes a lucky day falls a week later or even more, and in ancient times the deceased could be buried several months or even years later. Now they are trying to find the best day in the next two weeks. In villages people are still buried in a dug grave, and in cities they are cremated.
My companion was from the same village and knew the late old man, as well as his family. While the relatives read the ritual words at the coffin and hung white stripes with farewell hieroglyphs in the house and yard, we returned to the temple. My attendant took several large bills from his wallet and gave them to the Taoist, who folded the money in a special way, sealed it with a strip of blue paper and wrote on it the exact amount of the mournful offering to the family of the deceased. Other villagers also prepared monetary offerings, depending on their income and respect for the deceased and his family. In the temple there was a heap of “paper money” - sheets of rice paper with the image of the Heavenly Emperor on one side and a large denomination on the other. Nearby they were preparing the attributes of a funeral procession: a paper dragon, a chariot, pennants with the name of the deceased, an incense burner in the form of a gazebo from the Land of the Immortals.
We returned to the house of the deceased, where the procession was already being prepared. The coffin was covered with a lid, and the eldest daughter-in-law swept away the “lucky dust” from the coffin lid with a ritual broom - it was wrapped in special paper and placed on the family altar. The relatives walked around the coffin three times and then carried it to the exit. At this time, the mourners at the gate began a ritual recitative, interrupted from time to time by single blows of the gong. The procession moved along the street to the hill behind the village; fellow villagers brought up the rear, scattering paper money along the way. The heads of the funeral participants were covered with pieces of white cloth. The procession made a short stop at each house, and neighbors brought tea to the family members of the deceased. Walking along the river, people threw white flowers and paper money into the water. A grave had already been dug on the cemetery hill, where the Taoist geomancer, following the directions of the compass and his calculations, showed the exact direction of the coffin in the ditch. Then lanterns and ritual objects were lowered there, which should accompany the deceased in the afterlife. A pot with ritual food was broken at the grave: the more fragments the ceramics scatter, the better an omen it is considered. Later, a funeral meal began in the house of the deceased.
Family members, observing mourning, should not visit the hairdresser for at least a hundred days; married sons during this period do not share a bed with their wives; it is not customary to participate in banquets, accept invitations to special events, or wear colored clothes. White and blue colors are considered mourning.
Irina Chudnova
The main type of traditional burial practice in Tibet is the so-called “sky burial”. The ritual of a “heavenly” funeral involves feeding the body of the deceased to vultures. Tibetan Buddhists believe in reincarnation, so they make offerings to birds in the hope that the deceased person will have a good life in a new reincarnation. For people with strong nerves!
Sky burial is called "jha-tor" in Tibetan, which means "giving alms to birds." According to Tibetan beliefs, the soul leaves the body at the moment of death, and a person should try to do good at all stages of life, so the dead body is fed to birds as a final act of charity.
When a Tibetan dies, his body is placed in a sitting position and remains in this position for 24 hours. At this time, the lama reads prayers from the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The prayers are intended to help the soul progress through the 49 levels of bardo, the state between death and rebirth. 3 days after death, a close friend of the deceased delivers the body to the burial place.
“City of Prayer Flags” is a site created for burial in the vicinity of the Chalang Monastery. Dari County, Qinghai Province, Golog Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, November 5, 2007.
There are about 1,100 heavenly burial sites in Tibet. The largest is located in the Drigung Til monastery.
First, the body is brought to the valley.
Unpack
Tied and made cuts
Relatives of the deceased pray during a burial ceremony in the "City of Prayer Flags", on a site created for burial in the vicinity of the Chalang Monastery.
In 1959, when the Chinese authorities finally gained a foothold in Tibet, the ritual was completely prohibited. Since 1974, after numerous requests from monks and Tibetans, the Chinese government has allowed the Sky Burial to resume.
The vultures are already waiting
The people who perform the ritual are called Rogyaps.
Rogyapa ("gravedigger") prays before a burial ceremony in the "City of Prayer Flags". The surroundings of the Chalang monastery. For burial, a rogyapa receives up to 100 yuan (about $13.5). Dari County, Qinghai Province, Golog Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, November 5, 2007.
A "gravedigger" sharpens a knife before a burial ceremony in the "City of Prayer Flags."
Rogyapa first makes many cuts on the body of the deceased and gives it over to the birds - the vultures do most of the work, eating all the flesh.
They wait until the birds have had enough of their food.
Rogyapa prays during the burial ceremony
And again they are fed to the birds. It is also possible to burn the remains.
The body is destroyed without a trace; in Tibetan Buddhism it is believed that in this way it is easier for the soul to leave the body in order to find a new one.
Tibetans believe that everyone should see the rite of heavenly burial at least once in their life in order to realize and feel all the fleetingness and ephemerality of life.
Funerals in Tibet often terrify foreigners. Tourists who come from other countries find some methods of burying the dead barbaric and unacceptable. To begin to understand the customs of the highlanders, you need to learn to look at the world through their eyes.
Tibetan philosophy
Christians, Jews and Muslims are accustomed to the fact that after the death of a loved one, some part of him remains on earth. Believers visit graves and look after them, believing that the dead will definitely appreciate love and care. Tibetans do not bring flowers to the dead. They practically don't do burials.
You should not think that in Tibet people are indifferent to each other. It's just that followers of Buddhism approach death differently. They view the body as a temporary container for an immortal soul, which sooner or later decides to change its shell.
When the mortal part dies, the soul is freed and begins to search for a new refuge.
Buddhist funeral rites are aimed at completely destroying the mortal coil. In this case, the spirit will lose contact with the life it left behind. For a Buddhist, a dead body is nothing more than an empty vessel. A loved one has left him forever and will never return to him. This means that there is no point in trying to preserve mortal remains.
In carrying out some rituals, Tibetans differ from Buddhists living in other countries. Many followers of Gautama Siddhartha prefer to burn the dead. But cremation requires firewood. And in Tibet there are too few trees to burn the dead.
Burials in the ground
In some areas, only the corpses of criminals and unrighteous people are buried in the ground. Since the body will decay slowly, the soul will not leave this world immediately. Thus, the criminal will receive retribution for what he did during his lifetime. The grave becomes a kind of place of imprisonment.
According to one of the Tibetan traditions, the bodies of children under fourteen years of age are also supposed to be buried. The custom can also be found in some regions of India. In this case, the soul is not released into a new life not in order to punish. Tibetans believe that the spirit of a small child is not yet strong. Once free, he may get scared. As a result, the deceased will wander between two worlds, without finding shelter and without the opportunity to be reborn.
Wood burials
An unusual container mounted high on a tree may turn out to be a burial place. This method of burying the deceased is used only for stillborn children. Parents soak the body in saline solution to prevent it from being touched by decay. The child is then placed in a coffin shaped like a barrel and firmly attached to a tree. It is believed that with the help of this ritual it is possible to prevent the rebirth of a stillborn child from the family. In some provinces, wood burials are imitated.
Instead of a coffin with a body, toys or children's things are hung on a tree.
Burial in water
This is a very labor-intensive way to bury a relative. Water burial is not often practiced. The dead human body is ground up and mixed with roasted barley flour. The resulting dish is fed to fish in the nearest body of water. To representatives of Western culture, this method seems inhumane and is perceived as mockery of a dead body. However, Tibetans view this ritual differently. An empty vessel is of no use to the soul. And living fish need food. A person who feeds a living being with his flesh will be forgiven many sins. Tibetans do not eat fish. Sea creatures carry within them a piece of a deceased loved one.
Sky burial in Tibet
This type of burial is considered the main one. One of its names is “Distributing Alms to Birds.” This method can be compared to burial in water, only the corpse will be fed not to fish, but to birds. Tibetans believe that a person should be useful both during life and after death. Feeding birds with your body will help improve karma. The next life will be much better than the one that ended. The bodies of the Panchen Lama and the Dalai Lama are not given heavenly burial. They are supposed to be embalmed and covered with gold.
After death occurs, the person is seated. The lama then reads special prayers from the Book of the Dead. Reading should continue throughout the day. Prayers help the soul go from a life that has just ended to a new rebirth. After 3 days, the deceased is handed over to the gravedigger (rogyapa). The body is transferred to the burial site, where the rogyapa removes the shroud and makes incisions on the deceased with a special knife. After this, the corpse is left on the site, where it is immediately eaten by hungry vultures. The cuts made on the body help predators tear the flesh apart. During the ceremony, the relatives of the deceased should be nearby and pray. The gravedigger grinds the remaining bones on a stone, mixes them with flour and butter and feeds them to the birds.
Currently, more than a thousand ritual sites are equipped in Tibet.
In the late 1950s, Chinese authorities banned sky burial in Tibet. However, due to urgent requests from believers, the ritual had to be allowed in the mid-1970s. The ban on the ritual was due to the fact that the birds were poisoned with stale human meat. Vultures became infected with dangerous diseases and became carriers of diseases themselves. Although sky funerals are now permitted, Chinese authorities have taken personal control of them. It is strictly prohibited to bury people who died from contagious diseases in this way.
The funeral traditions of Tibetans can be disgusting. However, similar customs exist among many peoples around the world. Heavenly funerals were also practiced by the ancient Slavs. They gave the deceased to be eaten by birds. A year later the bones were buried. It was necessary to do this in order not to defile the earth with rotting flesh. With the advent of Christianity in Rus', the mentality of the Slavs changed, and the once natural tradition began to be considered barbaric.
