Sky burial
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Dakhma (Tower of Silence) Yazd, Iran
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
'Jim and Barb’s Adventures' commented that vultures are simultaneously fascinating and repulsive, and that reminded me of ‘sky burials.’
Sky burial is not a burial at all, but an excarnation. It is the Western expression for what Tibetans call ’giving alms to the birds.’
It was a practical solution to the problem of finding enough fuel for the more traditional Buddhist practice of cremation. There was no requirement to preserve the body – it was empty once the soul had departed and migrated elsewhere. It was considered a practical and generous ritual, providing sustenance to birds and wild animals.
It is a ritual still practised in many Himalayan communities.
Parsis (Zoroastrians) traditionally placed the bodies of their dead in Dakhmas (Towers of Silence) for the vultures to consume. The Parsis of Mumbai in India have tried to maintain the practice, but it is difficult because the population of vultures declined dramatically in the late twentieth century. The cause was the use of diclofenac, commonly prescribed for ailments like arthritis and migraine. It is toxic to vultures.
Some mountain tops had been designated as charnel grounds, but the practice was banned in China in the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) though it has been re-established in some areas.
Other forms of air burial involved putting the cadaver in a hollow tree.
Australian Aboriginal people placed the bodies of their dead on raised platforms and covered them with grasses and leaves. They would be left for a year. The purpose was to prevent the ghost of the departed returning to plague the people.
Some North American peoples similarly raised their corpses to the sky in tall trees, leaving them there for two years, after which they would be retrieved and buried.
Thus, for some, such practices were undertaken to dispose of a body no longer occupied. For others, it was a way to ensure that spirits were appeased so that they would not return to haunt.
Once again you've touched on a topic I knew nothing about!
ReplyDeleteJust Thursday, nearly to my son's house I saw a group of about 30 vultures lined up on a bank and in the bare branches of a tree above that bank. All standing still as statues with their wings outstretched all facing the sun. A little bit creepy.
ReplyDeleteWhy was the practice of designating some mountain tops as charnel grounds banned by China? I would have thought a remote, high mountain top would have paid great respect to a dead relative.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I never knew about this -
ReplyDeleteA couple of years ago I finally let go of my sons cremated ashes after 20 years - As a family we took two helicopters to the Trinity Alps of Northern California and sprinkled them over the snow capped mountain tops. It was powerful and freeing. Now his brothers backpack the area in the summer.
Having your body left to nature is a fine idea and I may have lately been thinking about leaving my body to the "Body Farm" in another state, where bodies are left to the weather, the insects etc and then studied over time by forensic scientists to learn more, which in turn helps with identifying what might have happened and how long ago when a body is found by people or police.
ReplyDeleteAboriginals here, wrapped the body in skins and put it on a platform in trees. It was there so that the spirits could find it
ReplyDeleteOur custom became feeding the creatures in the earth, so we were quite noble too. Now more people get burnt, using fossil fuels and creating air pollution.
ReplyDeleteApparently crematoriums are smokeless unless a very heavy fat filled body is burnt. A little smoke may be released.
DeleteMost interesting. I must admit that I had never encountered the term "excarnation" before. In this country, there were times when hanged men or women were left on the gallows to decompose for months on end - partly as a warning message to the living.
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