home Calculation

Where the dead are given to be eaten by vultures. "heavenly burial" in Tibet. Bali. Cremation fit for kings

"Heavenly burial" (jhator or 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 time 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 the last manifestation 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 Panchen Lama. After death, their bodies are embalmed and covered with gold.

Post sponsor: How to take a screenshot in 1 click? We will teach!

1. "City of Prayer Flags" - a site created for burial in the vicinity of Chalang Monastery. Dari County, Qinghai Province, Golog-Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, November 5, 2007. Photo: China Photos / Getty Images

"Celestial burial" is practiced throughout the Tibetan area, including some Indian territories such as Ladakh or the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

2. Relatives of the deceased pray during the burial ceremony in the "City of Prayer Flags", on the site created for burial in the vicinity of Chalang Monastery.

In 1959, when the Chinese authorities finally established themselves in Tibet, the ceremony was completely banned. Since 1974, following numerous requests from monks and Tibetans, the Chinese government has allowed the Heavenly Burial to resume.

3. The vultures gathered in the "City of Prayer Flags", at the site created for burial in the vicinity of Chalang Monastery.

There are now about 1,100 heavenly burial sites. The ritual is performed by special people - rogyaps.

4. Rogyapa ("gravedigger") sharpens a knife before the burial ceremony in the "City of Prayer Flags."

When a Tibetan dies, his body is placed in a sitting position. So 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 move through the 49 levels of the bardo - the state between death and rebirth.

Three 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 way to the birds - the vultures do the bulk 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.

5. Tibetans believe that everyone, at least once in his life, should see the rite of heavenly burial in order to realize and feel all the transience and ephemerality of life.

From the turning of bones in Madagascar to burials in the sky on the Tibetan plateau ... Learn the most unique and bizarre funeral rites.

Zoroastrian funeral

The key tenet of Zoroastrianism, the ancient Persian religion, is to maintain both physical and spiritual purity. Death is seen as evil, and corruption is considered the work of a demon called Drui-I-Nasush. This demonic act is harmful to the spirit and is very contagious, therefore, during the funeral, they do everything possible not to touch the body of the deceased.

After death, a person is washed in bovine urine and then dressed in old clothes. A special dog visits the corpse twice to ward off evil spirits from it. Only after that it will be possible for all people to look at it. Then the corpse is placed in a dakhma (or "tower of silence"), where the body is freely accessible for vultures.

Santhara

What would happen if there was a way to bring death closer, so to speak, to hasten its onset? For many adherents of Jainism (a kind of religion that believes that self-control and the absence of violence are the means of spiritual liberation) such a ritual is the norm. This is called santhara or sallehana. This ancient practice is only permissible for people with terminal illnesses or disabilities.

Gradually, a person gives up small pleasures in life. It starts with books and entertainment, then sweets, tea and medicine. Finally, a person refuses all food and water. The day of death is a holiday, family members of the deceased dress in bright outfits and dine in honor of the departed person. Such a joyful day of mourning testifies to the fact that life has gone well.

Heavenly burial

There are coffins, there are urns and, of course, the famous mummies of Egypt. But high on a plateau in Central Asia, another type of funeral rite is practiced - burial in the sky. Known in Tibetan as bya gtor, or "alms to birds," the funeral rite involves placing a corpse on a mountaintop where it will be eaten by birds of prey.

Widely practiced by adherents of Buddhism in Tibet, Nepal and Mongolia, burials in the sky are directly related to the concept of rebirth. In addition, at any stage of life, a person must be useful. Here it is considered the most real charity to give the body back to the earth, sky and other beings.

Famadikhana

In some cultures, the dead are raised again, turned over. The Malagasy people of Madagascar practice famadihana, which means "flipping the bones." People periodically exhume the dead from family crypts and wrap their bodies in fresh shrouds. Music plays as all family members unite to raise the corpse and dance near the grave. According to the ritual, the soul enters the kingdom of the ancestors only after complete decomposition and numerous similar ceremonies.

Aboriginal funeral rites

While Australia's indigenous cultures differ across the continent, spiritual beliefs are often grouped under Dreamtime (time of creation). During the funeral, relatives and acquaintances of the deceased paint their bodies with white paint, cut themselves (an act of mourning) and sing songs to facilitate the revival of the deceased.

Funeral rites are clearly designed for the people of Northern Australia. The burial takes place in two stages. First, the body is lifted onto wooden planks and covered with leaves, and it remains in this position for a month, until it begins to rot. The second stage begins after the bones are collected and covered with ocher. Family members sometimes take a bone and carry it with them as a keepsake. In other cases, the remains are dumped in a cave.

Sati

Although this rite is no longer practiced, sati deserves a mention because of its connection to marriage. In Hinduism, bodies are cremated in a funeral pyre. In some sects of Hinduism, the widow was voluntarily burned at the stake with her already dead husband. The ritual was banned in 1829, but reports of such acts still remain. There was one case in 2008 in the Indian state of Chhattasgarh when an elderly woman performed a sati ritual.

Heavenly funeral

For many of us, Tibet was and remains a civilization that we cannot understand. Curiosity about this mysterious land is also spurred on by the fact that Tibetan sages and monks look at the rest of the world with eyes, in which one can guess either indifference or arrogance. They say that Tibetan lamas can "enter" the bodies of dead people and live in this new state. Some lamas are mysteriously able to preserve their flesh after death without signs of decay for two weeks. This is done so that the consciousness of the students has the opportunity to penetrate the teacher's body and master all the wealth of his knowledge and wisdom..

Scientists from Columbia University were present at a similar act in 1987. Later, the Dalai Lama explained to them that the tantric technique allows the consciousness of students to penetrate the body of a dead teacher and receive all his knowledge and life experience, because memory is not a brain. But it takes a lot of training to be successful.

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 into the body of the deceased and exist in it as 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.

In 1950, Chinese troops occupied Tibet, and the new government launched a powerful and merciless anti-religious campaign. Thousands of years old monasteries and temples were closed everywhere. For the assimilation of the Tibetans, forced marriages with the Chinese and their expulsion to the interior of the country were widely practiced. At the same time, the flow of refugees to India steadily increased. By 1960, more than 100,000 Tibetans, led by the Dalai Lama, had concentrated there. Fortunately, in the future, the repression stopped, but Tibet remains Chinese, and the Chinese are skeptical about the philosophy of Buddhism, including the terrible rite of "heavenly burial".

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" - it is pointless and very dangerous for two reasons. First, if a curious person is caught trying to spy on a "heavenly funeral", then he faces ten years in Chinese prison. Secondly, if someone manages to spy on them, then this will certainly adversely affect the psyche of the "lucky man", and maybe even destroy it altogether.

In every room of Lhasa hotels you will see an announcement in seven languages:

“According to the laws of the Chinese government, it is strictly forbidden in our city to visit, be present and take photographs at the site of the“ celestial burial, ”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. "

"Celestial burial" is a kind of ritual of monks, during which a corpse is cut with knives into small pieces 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 he who is the last refuge of the dead monks, who, according to legend, ascend from him to the skies.

Before proceeding with the main operation, the master of the funeral ceremony drinks a strong monastery beer. They say, in order to dull the sensations of the forthcoming work to dismember the deceased and further crush the tissues of his body.

Several knives and a powerful sledgehammer are prepared for the operation. All the 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 task of the master is to chop the corpse into smallest pieces that could easily devour the voracious vultures. But first, the corpse is dismembered. An hour later, the head, arms, legs, intestines, lungs, liver, heart are neatly laid out on a stone slab ...

The master of the funeral ceremony takes apart the skeleton of the deceased literally to the bones, and then grinds them with a sledgehammer into powder. This work takes up most of the operation. It is laborious 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 there. These two ingredients are loved by vultures, their scent plus blood draws vultures to the "food" stone. To make the ceremony solemn and attract more vultures, many small bonfires are made around the stove. Moreover, they are kindled so that there is less fire, but a lot of smoke: it is at this moment that the master leaves a bloody mess with spices on the stone and leaves to finish his beer, giving the mission of the ascension of the deceased to heaven to the vultures already circling in the sky. For several hours, and sometimes even a day, a terrible feast continues. Fat variegated vultures with hooked beaks, from which blood drips, slowly eat the remains of a deceased monk, who, by the way, during his lifetime knew perfectly well what the last hours of his mortal body would be on earth.

The vultures are waiting

The locals know the customs of the monks and do not seek to spy on the ritual. The fact that the only spectators of the "heavenly funeral" may be the inhabitants of the local prison looks very strange. 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 looked at the place with special intent, so that the criminals had something to stare at, and then have a good time to think about the vanity of the earth. But no one knows whether the prisoners observe the "heavenly funeral" or do not disturb the sacraments of monastic activity with their curiosity.

The vulture feast is over. Only the clotted blood on the stone slab reminds of a "heavenly burial." But the rain will pass, the stone will become clean and smooth again and will begin to wait patiently for its next "guest".

This text is an introductory fragment. From the book Walking to the Frozen Seas author Burlak Vadim Nikolaevich

Skyships Low above the water, in the turquoise clouds, a ship appeared ... turned upside down with its masts! At first, I couldn't believe my eyes. Sleep? Miracle? Optical illusion? .. Or maybe this is the harbinger of the death of ships - "Flying Dutchman"? How many had to read and about dangerous

From the book When? author Shur Yakov Isidorovich

The inhabitants of heaven The Polynesians put together a funny fairy tale. Previously, the sun god Tama, like an idle tramp, wandered in the sky wherever he pleases or flew with the speed of lightning. But in the end, the cunning Maui tamed him and tamed him.

From the book Myths of the ancient Slavs author Afanasyev Alexander Nikolaevich

Heavenly flocks For the tribes of the shepherds, and such were all tribes in the remote epoch of their prehistoric existence, wealth was in the herds and was measured by them. Livestock provided man with food and clothing; the mother gives him the same gifts of grace

From the book of 100 great secrets author Nikolai Nepomniachtchi

From the book History of the Xiongnu people author Gumilev Lev Nikolaevich

VIII. "Heavenly Horses" CHINESE PROMOTION TO THE WEST Despite the successes achieved in the south (Indochina) and in the east (Korea), Wu had to admit that the main problem - the Hunnish - was by no means resolved. A field army was created by a colossal effort; it

From the book Deity of the 12th planet author Sitchin Zachariah

From the book The Path of the Phoenix [Secrets of a Forgotten Civilization] author Alford Alan

Heavenly Lions We have established that the Egyptian pharaohs were the rulers of the Earth, who embodied Horus and Set, reincarnations of the great planetary gods Horus the elder and Seth the elder, who exploded millions of years ago, and whose fragments once fell to Earth. After death

From the book The Split of the Empire: from Terrible-Nero to Mikhail Romanov-Domitian. [The famous "antique" works of Suetonius, Tacitus and Flavius, it turns out, describe Great author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

13. Funeral of Germanicus and Funeral of Yermak A naked body is displayed on a platform for public viewing As we showed in the book "The Conquest of America by Yermak-Cortes ...", the Russian chronicles have preserved vivid evidence that Yermak was actually buried in Mexico, near

From the book Yamato Dynasty author Seagrave Sterling

The Heavenly Gate "Yamato Dynasty" is the first collective biography of the Japanese imperial family, men and women, spanning the five generations closest to us, beginning with the Meiji Restoration in the 19th century. We asked a friend of the Japanese researcher what he would like

From the book Secrets of Pagan Rus author Mizun Yuri Gavrilovich

THE HEAVENLY GODS OF THE SLAVS Before the advent of Christianity, the Slavic super-ethnos existed for thousands of years. His life was built on a healthy, correct foundation. This is a healthy, equal family, no slavery and serfdom, no sacrifices, a harmonious attitude

From the book Riddles of Antiquity. White spots in the history of civilization author Burgansky Gary Eremeevich

HEAVENLY CHARIOTS But let's return to retellings of people's travels to heaven. Chinese chronicles mention Gou Zhi, an engineer of Emperor Yao, who in 2309 BC. decided to fly to the moon in a celestial chariot with the help of "a stream of air that shone." Interestingly, the author

From the book Hermann Goering: The Second Man of the Third Reich author Kersody Francois

II Sky Knights One hundred and twelfth Infantry Regiment of Prince William was stationed in the Haute Rhine department, in the small town of Mulhausen, which the gloomy inhabitants of Alsace occupied by Germany stubbornly continued to call Mulhouse. Garrison life was not

From the book Bohemond of Antioch. Knight of Fortune by Flory Jean

13. Bohemond and the legions of heaven Raimund of Toulouse, however, did not use his advantage to the full. He did prepare for the battle that God had declared victorious, but he was not the one who led the crusaders into battle. By that time, Raimund fell ill again, as did Ademar.

author

From the book Catastrophe Book. Miracles of the world in eastern cosmographies author Yurchenko Alexander Grigorievich

§15. Heavenly Signs The ancient Chinese historian Sima Qian in his "Treatise on Celestial Phenomena" describes a system of predictions associated with the Sun. The outcome of the battle was predicted by the appearance and color of the solar halo. At first glance, the system looks very strange. Amazes her

From the book Encyclopedia of Slavic Culture, Written Language and Mythology author Kononenko Alexey Anatolievich

D) Heavenly bodies and dawns The sky seemed to ancient Ukrainians now as a field, now as a sea, now as just a maple leaf, on which the sun, moon and dawns are written; the clouds seemed like forests, oak groves, rocks, a flock or flock of sheep, a commodity; the dawns seemed like thick heaps in the field, or

The topic of death has always worried the minds of mankind, and this is natural, because in fact all that we have is life and death. In all religions, death is treated differently, some believed that burial in the ground would be the best way to honor the memory of the deceased, others decided that the bodies of the deceased should be cremated, but still others went further and simply began to feed the lifeless bodies of their relatives to vultures. Read about these and other interesting burial methods below.

China. Soaring coffins

The Bo people, who inhabited the modern provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan, disappeared from the map of China centuries ago, unable to resist the Ming Dynasty. Almost nothing remains of the brilliant bo culture, only amazing coffins, as if floating along the steep walls. The oldest burial is 2500 years old, and the most recent ones were made 400 years ago. The coffins were made from a single piece of wood and lifted onto rocks, installed in caves and crevices, or on supports driven into the rock. Scientists give several explanations for this unusual burial ritual. According to some, this was done so that neither animals nor people could get to them. According to another version, in this way the Bo people tried to provide the deceased with an easy transition to another world, since the rocks were considered stairs to the sky.

South Korea. Beads for memory

Several South Korean firms offer an unusual service to the relatives of deceased people: the ashes after cremation are treated with very high temperatures, it crystallizes and turns into beads, which are then dyed blue-green, pink, purple or black - at the request of the customer. They are usually kept at home in a beautiful bottle.

I must say that the service, despite all the exoticism, is popular. And all the fault is the laws and traditions, between which the Koreans were caught as between Scylla and Charybdis. The fact is that Confucianism, which for centuries was the dominant ideology in Korea, requires zealous reverence for ancestors and obligatory burial in the ground. At the same time, in the twentieth century, in densely populated, but small Korea, a shortage of area has matured. And the government began to promote cremation as a more "compact" method of burial. The final point in this was a law passed in 2000, according to which the graves received a "validity period" equal to 60 years, after which the relatives must remove it. So now only three out of ten Koreans are buried in the ground according to the old customs, while others are destined to turn to ashes, or, if they are lucky, into colored beads.

Tibet. Feeding the remains to vultures

Tibetans believe in the transmigration of souls, the body for them is just a perishable shell that loses its value after death. Cremation or burial in the ground in Tibet is not feasible - there are rocks under your feet and there are almost no trees. It is not surprising that such an unusual ritual as "heavenly burial" - feeding the remains to vultures, arose here. The rite, which is shocking for a Western person, is carried out on special sites by specially trained people - rogyaps. The gravedigger makes cuts on the body with a sharp knife and leaves it to the birds.

Vultures, according to the Tibetans, perform two tasks: they eat the remains and lift the soul to heaven. When only bones are left of the body, rogyapa crushes them, mixes them with tsampa (barley flour with yak butter) and offers them to the birds again. "Heavenly funerals" are still practiced, although environmentalists and doctors are already expressing their displeasure. After all, vultures are offered for food not only the remains of people who died of old age or as a result of an accident, but also from diseases, including AIDS and flu.

Bali. Cremation fit for kings

Hinduism in Bali is very different from the Indian mainstream. One of these Balinese features is the Ngaben cremation ceremony. If funds permit, ngaben is performed three days after death. Otherwise, the body is buried in the ground. It can stay there for months or even years until the required amount is collected.

When someone dies, relatives continue to treat the deceased as a living, but sleeping person. On the appointed day, the body is placed in a coffin, and that, in turn, in a stretcher in the form of a temple (wada). The vad is carried to the cremation site, and the procession goes as long as possible, winding through the streets. Balinese people believe that this helps to mislead evil spirits. Already at the funeral pyre, the body is transferred from the vada to the sarcophagus in the form of a black bull, which is burned. After 12 days (or as soon as relatives can pay for the ceremony), the ashes are solemnly scattered over the sea or river.

Amazon. Circle of life

The Yanomamo tribe lives in the jungle on the border of Venezuela and Brazil. The inaccessibility of the habitat helped them to preserve their rituals and customs, which sometimes seem shocking to representatives of Western civilization. So, Yanamomo to this day practice the so-called endocannibalism - eating dead fellow tribesmen. In fact, the funeral feast is the last stage of the funeral rite. First, the body is cremated, then the bones are crushed and put into a pot together with the ashes. Then, usually on the occasion of some holiday, pasta is made from the remains and bananas, which is eaten by the whole village. The Indians believe that if this ritual is not performed, the soul will be forever stuck between the world of the living and the world of the dead.

Ghana. When form matters

In Ghana, representatives of the Ha people can order a coffin of any shape for a deceased, just as we order a cake for a birthday. Mercedez-Benz is for a successful businessman, a bus is for someone who drove him during his lifetime, a giant fish is for a fisherman, a brood hen is for the most loving and beloved mother in the world. This tradition appeared in the 1950s thanks to a curiosity. The ruler of the country ordered himself an eagle-shaped palanquin (a stretcher in the form of a bed and a chair), but just on the day of delivery he suddenly died. Relatives without thinking twice put the body on a spectacular stretcher and buried in them.

Today, undertaker artists' workshops have become a popular tourist attraction, and their products (in reduced sizes) are welcome guests in private collections, museums and art galleries.

Australia. Complex simplicity

In northern Australia, where the traditional Aboriginal way of life is best preserved, the funeral takes place in two stages. First, the body of the deceased is laid on a special wooden platform, covered with leaves and branches and left for several months. Then the remaining bones are stained with red ocher. Their further fate depends on the beliefs of a particular group of aborigines. Somewhere they are buried, somewhere they are placed in a cave, and the natives of the Arnhemland Peninsula solemnly fold the bones into a “tube” made of a hollow tree trunk, which is installed in a specially designated place. For the manufacture of these peculiar coffins, trees eaten away by termites are used, so that the craftsmen can only process and paint the surface with totem signs. Aborigines believe that this ritual helps the soul to overcome the dangerous path to another world.

All people equally come to this world and leave it equally. Each of us at least once thought about what would be there - beyond life and death. Will we feel, will we continue to exist, will we meet our loved ones? We also believe: in rebirth, in heaven and hell, in castes, rewards and punishments. It is the duty of those close to us to honor the dead on their last journey, observing the rites and traditions of their faith. In every country, funeral ceremonies are unique and inimitable: somewhere beautiful and magnificent, somewhere shocking and incomprehensible. Eyewitnesses who managed to visit them tell about what 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 distinctive places on Earth. Here they sacredly honor and observe traditions, 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. Having appeared here for the first time, I boldly moved towards the smoking fires, unaware of what it was. Imagine my surprise when I saw that this is a real cremation, which takes 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 Bagmati is a great honor for any Nepali Hindu. "The ashes that are dumped into the river are eventually carried away by the current into the Ganges, and there it reaches the feet of the god Shiva, which means that the deceased has a chance to avoid further rebirth or at least reduce their number."

I must say that Bagmati is a very shallow, almost dry rivulet, and I doubt that it really flows into the Ganges, and does not break off around the bend. However, the Nepalese know better: they spend up to 400 kilograms of firewood on the cremation of one body, which cost them a round 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 up for funerals for years. How do they get out of the situation? “They buy as much firewood as they can,” the guide informs 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 the ritual was carried out at least for some part.

First, the deceased is undressed and his clothes and personal belongings are lowered into the river, some of which are caught and left by the inhabitants of nearby villages - this does not bother anyone. As the polluted river does not bother the women who wash their clothes there. The guide explains that the waters of a sacred river cannot be dirty, even if it seems that way. It is considered a good omen to wash your hands in it and wash your face, which I do so as not to offend my Nepalese comrades. An amazing thing: she does not seem dirty to me either - I wash my hands and understand that everything that happens here is not at all strange and even less scary. If a similar picture appeared before me in some other place, then I would not have been able to recover from the shock for a long time, and in Nepal this is something for granted. This is one of the few places on Earth where you come to terms with the very fact of death, starting to understand that this is a natural process: the logical conclusion People in white clothes who participate in cremation are calm, and some are even cheerful. Nepalese are sure that in such cases it is necessary to say "good luck" and not mourn in the voice of the dead, because every death of the physical body brings the soul closer to the longed-for 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, as if spellbound, looking towards the fires. The guide says that some of the Nepalese are buried in the ground, having no money to buy at least some 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 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 the burial process with interest, and even filming it. Although at first it didn't feel like a funeral at all.

Walking through the town of Sapa, which is located in the mountains of North Vietnam, I suddenly saw a noisy procession with drums, pipes, flags and banners, which consisted of cheerful people. I noticed that there was a heap of photocopies of American dollars on the banners, and tried to guess what the locals were celebrating for the holiday. However, when a bus appeared around the bend, which reminded me of a hearse from which someone was throwing the same photocopies of American money, I realized that I was in front of a funeral procession.

The bus stopped at the cemetery gate, people carried the coffin and carried it up the mountain in their arms. Soon a cloud appeared, which plunged the cemetery into a thick fog and hid it from me. I did not dare to go to continue shooting right away, but curiosity got the better of me - I headed towards the churchyard. The faces of people who had seemed cheerful a few minutes ago were filled with sorrow, and now this funeral was no different from what we are used to.

A place in a Vietnamese cemetery costs about a thousand dollars, but this considerable amount, by local standards, is always available. Families are large here, and collecting money from relatives is not difficult.

The burial 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 rice grains around. All this time, I was walking nearby, watching with amazement how cows graze a couple of tens of meters from us, slowly eating grass and flowers on the graves.

After the burial and performing the necessary rituals, the last to leave the cemetery were, apparently, the closest relatives - people with white headbands. I left with them and at parting tried to express sympathy, putting my hand to my heart. They answered me with a nod.

Ilya Stepanov

BALI (Indonesia)

I was walking along the crowded Kuta beach when I saw a bonfire in the distance and bright decorations in the best Balinese traditions. Adjusting the camera on the go, I went there hoping to take spectacular pictures 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 - they are being buried. I looked around: fires were burning in the bamboo rectangular structures, and the smell of roast was clearly felt in the air. People around them perceived this process as absolutely natural, there was not a drop of sadness in their eyes.

A funeral in Bali is always a celebration. Relatives consider cremation to be the best gift for the deceased, as thanks to it the soul can quickly get rid of the body. Some people start saving money for their last fire from childhood, because death and funeral are considered one of the main events here, which should not be feared. Balinese people 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 the body has to be buried 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 do not see anything wrong with digging up the deceased later and cremating them according to all the rules and with due honors.

I walked a respectful distance and continued to observe the process. There is some wisdom in this approach to death. Since childhood, we have heard that mourning is hard and bitter, at a funeral one should not smile, one should grieve for the deceased. For the Balinese, the opposite is true: crying here means causing suffering to the deceased. Why be sad if soon a new life begins for him?

Children ran around the fires, adults talked to each other, smiled and laid out treats in special tents, which were placed next to each other on the grass. A hundred meters from us surfers were jumping on the waves, children were gathering shells, tourists were sunbathing on the sand, merchants offered their goods, completely oblivious to the strange procession and burning bonfires.

Elena Kalina

JAPAN

Most funerals in Japan are held according to the rites of Buddhism, which is the main religion in the country. On the day of death and the next, a commemoration is arranged - karitsuya and hontsuya, and the burial itself takes place only two days later. It is believed that there are auspicious and unfavorable days for the funeral, so the dates are coordinated with the priest and the Buddhist calendar. In the process of preparing the body for cremation, the relatives wash and wipe it, and then dress it in a white kimono called kyokatabira. Kimono floors are necessarily wrapped from right to left, in contrast to the everyday version 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 at the mention of the real name of the deceased. Before the funeral service, the body is placed in a coffin, sometimes the deceased's favorite things or sweets are put there, and relatives and family lay flowers.

Tsuya is mandatory - night wakefulness 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. Burial of ashes usually takes place in a family grave, and the name is engraved on the monument or it is written on a sotoba - a separate wooden plate that is installed next to it.

After the burial, commemoration rites are held, when the whole family gathers together to honor the memory of the deceased and attend the service in the temple. During this period, a small Buddhist altar "butsudan" with the names and photographs of the deceased is usually installed in the house, on which they put refreshments and burn incense.

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 Xiacun in the morning darkness and coolness in the hope of meeting a familiar tea grower. Despite the early hour, there was no one in the house, and the whole edge of the village was unusually empty and quiet. In search of our host, we walked to a small but highly revered Taoist temple, which has always been the main center of this place. It was lively around the temple, it seems that the whole village was gathered here.

There we learned that one of the oldest residents died a few days ago, and the funeral is 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 accessories, decorated with blue and white paper flowers.

The smell of firecrackers hovered at the gate of the deceased's house, their remains were smoking on the ground, but not red, as for happy celebrations, but blue; firecrackers inform all neighbors about the imminent burial: in the village this is considered an invitation, since the closest relatives of the deceased should not enter neighboring 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 it will not be possible for living family members to sleep on it, therefore, such a bed is burned in rich families, and in the poor they arrange a special bed for the dying using a door and special bedding.

The dying and the deceased should not be dressed in animal tissue or skin, because after death, the soul can move into the werewolf animal. Best of all black and white cotton clothes, in wealthy families - silk. Relatives wash the body of the deceased, shave his head and mustache, dress him in afterlife clothes, cover the face of the deceased with a piece of silk cloth, and put copper coins, a comb and a mirror in the coffin.

While preparing, one should not lament and 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 the Taoist geomancer, calculating the best orientation, according to the rules of feng shui. The Taoist also determines a favorable date for the burial: sometimes a good day falls a week later or even more, and in ancient times the deceased could be buried after a few months or even years. Now they are trying to find the best day in the next two weeks. In villages, they are still buried in a dug grave, and in cities they are cremated.

My companion came from the same village and knew the deceased old man, as well as his family. While relatives were reading the words laid down by the ritual at the coffin and hanging white stripes with farewell hieroglyphs in the house and yard, we returned to the temple. My escort took out 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 fellow villagers also prepared monetary offerings, depending on their wealth and respect for the deceased and his family. The temple was heaped with "paper money" - sheets of rice paper with the image of the Heavenly Emperor on one side and a large denomination on the other. Nearby, the attributes of a funeral procession were being prepared: 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 preparing. The coffin was covered with a lid, and the eldest daughter-in-law with a ritual broom swept away the “lucky dust” from the coffin lid - 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 started a ritual recitative, from time to time interrupted by single blows of the gong. The procession moved along the street to the hill behind the village, with fellow villagers scattering paper money along the way. The heads of the participants in the funeral were covered with cuts of white cloth. The procession made a short stop at each house, neighbors brought tea to the family members of the deceased. Passing 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 instructions 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 pottery scatters into, the better omen it is considered. Later, a memorial meal began in the house of the deceased.

Family members, observing mourning, should not visit a hairdresser for at least a hundred days, married sons during this period do not share bed with their wives, it is not customary to participate in banquets, accept invitations to special events, and wear colored clothes. White and blue colors are considered mourning.

Irina Chudnova