Traditional Burial Customs that Might be Shocking

For the most part, we have been accustomed to two different ways of saying our final goodbyes to our loved ones: burial and cremation. You might be surprised and sometimes a little shocked to learn how different cultures carry out funerals. Have a traditional funeral or be consumed by vultures? What about your family digging you every few years, spraying you with perfume, and dancing with you while a band plays? Here are some funeral traditions from all over the world:



Philippines
The Tinguian people are just one of many people in the Philippines. They sit the body of the deceased on a chair and dress it up in the swankiest of clothes and then they place a lit cigarette in its lips. The body “smokes” for several weeks. The Benguet people in the Philippines blindfold their dead and then sit them in chairs at the entrance to the home. The Cebuano people dress the children attending funerals in red. This is said to decrease the chance of them seeing ghosts. High up into the mountains, the Sagada people are known for hanging coffins from cliffs. This brings the souls of the dead closer to heaven. And the Cavite people entomb their deceased vertically inside of a hollowed-out tree that the person had chosen prior to their own death.

Indonesia
In Tana Toraja in eastern Indonesia, funerals are loud, boisterous, and lavish affairs that the whole village participates in. They last anywhere from days to weeks. Families save up for a long time to be able to afford these funerals. A sacrificial water buffalo will carry the soul to the afterlife. Until that moment (which can actually take place years after death) the dead relative is referred to as a person who is sick, or one who is asleep. In special rooms in the family home, they are laid down and (symbolically) fed, cared for, and taken outside.

In Bali, (2008), the island saw one of its most lavish cremations ever as Agung Suyasa (head of the royal family) was burned along with 68 commoners. Thousands of residents gathered to carry a giant bamboo platform, an enormous wooden bull, and a wooden dragon. After a long procession, Suyasa’s body was eventually placed inside the bull and burned. The dragon stood witness. In the Balinese tradition, cremation is a sacred duty. It releases the soul so it can be free to inhabit a new body.



Tibet and Mongolia
Vajrayana Buddhists believe the soul moves on after death while the body becomes an empty vessel. To return the body to the earth, it is carried up a mountain and chopped into pieces. It’s placed on the mountaintop exposed to the elements—and to the vultures. It’s been done this way for thousands of years. Eighty percent of Tibetans still choose this ritual of sky burial. It is believed that they are sending their loved ones’ souls toward heaven. This serves the dual purpose of eliminating the now-empty vessel (the physical body) and allowing the soul to go freely.

image: David Levene for the Guardian

Ghana
People in Ghana like to be buried in something that represents their lives. These include coffins shaped like cherished or important things to them like mini planes for pilots, fish for fishermen and even a Mercedes, giant pens, cameras, whatever you can imagine! Ghanaian funerals are raucous celebrations with little mourning and much laughing and dancing. Sometimes funerals are more expensive than weddings.

Mexico
Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a celebration of life and death that takes place over a two-day period. Contrary to popular belief, it is not Mexican Halloween. A tradition that dates back to Aztec times, it is believed that mourning the dead is disrespectful, and once a year they return to earth. To celebrate this, altars are set up in the home or graveyard and loaded with offerings of marigolds, food, drink, photos, and candles. It is extremely colorful and joyous. The celebration serves to demonstrate love and respect for the deceased. People wear costumes and make up their faces as beautiful sugar skulls, hold parades and parties, sing and dance, and make offerings to departed loved ones.

Madagascar
“Dancing with the dead” best describes the funeral tradition of the Malagasy people of Madagascar. They open up the tombs of their dead every few years and rewrap them in fresh burial clothes. Along with the refreshed wrappings, they are sprayed with perfume or wine and they also get to dance with family members near the tomb while music plays. This ritual—called “famadihana” is translated as the “turning of the bones”—is supposed to speed up decomposition and push the spirit of the dead into the afterlife. For some, it’s an opportunity to pass family news onto the deceased. For others, it’s a time to remember and tell stories of the dead.

India
Since Hindus don’t believe in the resurrection of the material body. The body has no significance so there is no concern to preserve it therefore cremation is usually the most common practice. It usually takes place within 24 hours of death. They believe that when we die, the soul detaches and departs. On the fourth day after death, they disperse the ashes in a sacred body of water (like the Ganges River, the most sacred water there.)

A priest or oldest son (or another male) of the family presides over the service which includes prayers and hymns. There are a lot of flowers.

Many families celebrate the departed’s life on the twelfth or thirteenth day after the funeral. A feast is given in appreciation for the life and for the day when the soul completes its travels through the ghost world, reaching the land of the ancestors.

Water Burials
Nordic countries embrace water rituals for their dead. Whether it is by laying coffins atop cliffs faced toward the water or setting bodies adrift into the ocean or a river in “death ships.” This tradition gives the bodies back to the gods.

Australia
When a loved one dies in Aboriginal society in Australia elaborate ceremonies and rites begin. First, a smoking ceremony is held in the loved one’s living area to drive away their spirit. Next, a large feast is held along with dancing. The body is put atop a platform and is covered in leaves. It is left to decompose.

Taiwan
It is very important to have a well-attended funeral in Taiwan. To achieve this goal, families do elaborate things to attract guests such as host feasts, dances, and even hiring strippers.

Japan
Cremation is the most popular choice for Buddhists. They see death as a part of a continual cycle of rebirth until that soul achieves the highest state of consciousness. A ceremony takes place the day after the person passes away. Guests burn incense and bring money, while a monk chants and prays. After the funeral ceremony, the body is cremated. Family members use chopsticks to remove bone fragments from the cremains and then they place them into an urn which is brought to the grave. The Buddhists may have started the idea of a Wake, as the Buddha’s students stayed up all night to discuss his teachings after he passed.

South Korea
South Koreans turning the cremains of their deceased into beads. Yes, beads. The beads are colorful and shiny and placed into glass vases or dishes and displayed prominently in the home. In a county so populous yet so small in area, this is actually a very wise choice, plus the end product is a beautiful family treasure to have as well as pass down.