"Heavenly 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 time of death, and the person on In all stages of life, one should try to be beneficial, 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 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 reportage - there is a real tin. So I warned you …
The City of Prayer Flags is a burial ground in the vicinity of Chalang Monastery. Dari County, Qinghai Province, Golog-Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, November 5, 2007.
"Celestial burial" is practiced throughout the Tibetan area, including some Indian areas such as Ladakh or the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
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 be resumed.
The vultures have gathered in the "City of Prayer Flags", at the site created for burial in the vicinity of Chalang Monastery.
Promotional video:
There are now about 1,100 heavenly burial sites. The ritual is performed by special people - rogyaps.
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 and 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.
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 way to the birds - the vultures do the bulk of the work, eating all the flesh.
Then the “gravedigger” collects and crushes the bones on a special flat stone, mixes the crumb with tsampa (barley flour with yak butter) and feeds all this to the birds.
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, at least once in their life, should see the rite of heavenly burial in order to realize and feel all the transience and ephemerality of life.
Rogyapa ("gravedigger") prays before the burial ceremony in the "City of Prayer Flags." Chalang monastery environs. For burial, the rogyapa receives up to 100 yuan (about $ 13.5). Dari County, Qinghai Province, Golog-Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, November 5, 2007.
Rogyapa crushes the bones of the deceased during the burial ceremony.
Rogyapa feeds the meat of the deceased to the vultures.
Rogyapa cuts the body of the deceased.
Rogyapa prays during the burial ceremony.
Rogyapa ("gravedigger"), having finished work, drinks tea with his family.
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And now reporting without cultural embellishment, just a common thing.
In general, first the body is brought to the valley.
Then they unpack it.
Then they tie the body to a peg and cut it.
The Chinese government has announced its intention to tightly control the Tibetan funeral. The ancient tradition, according to which the bodies of the dead are left in the open air to be eaten by vultures, according to ecologists, is very harmful to the health of birds.
The Chinese government has announced its intention to tightly control the Tibetan celestial funeral.
The ancient tradition, according to which the bodies of the dead are left in the open air to be eaten by vultures, according to ecologists, is 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 the vultures cannot carry the remains. After that, the skin of the deceased is incised - so it is more convenient for the birds to eat
According to the Ministry of Nature Protection of China, unexplained deaths of vultures have recently become more frequent. Officials attribute this to poisoning with stale human meat.
One dead man is enough to feed a whole flock.
- Tibetans arrange heavenly burial of the dead from various diseases and infections of people. Birds come into contact with carriers of the infection and, in addition to dying themselves, carry it across the country, ” Yun Hui, Commissioner for Tibetan Territories, shared his fears. “Therefore, we will make sure that birds do not eat anything, in particular those who have died from AIDS or various types of flu.
The Tibetan community took the prohibition to bury people who died from illness in accordance with established religious rites extremely negatively. It considers these measures to be the next 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, Mordva observed this rite until the end of the 19th century.
Before burial, our ancestors put 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 commemorations in a year. This custom was dictated by the desire not to desecrate the nursing ground with rotting flesh.
The remains are carefully collected.
You can learn more about this from the interesting book "The Unknown Himalayas" by Himanshu Joshi.
Heavenly burial is one of three types of burials used in Tibet. The other two are cremation and dumping into the river.
The celestial burial is called in Tibetan "jha-tor", which means "giving alms to the birds." According to Tibetan beliefs, the soul leaves the body at the time of death, and a person at all stages of life should try to be beneficial, therefore the dead body is fed to birds as the last manifestation of charity.
Tibet has about 1,100 heavenly burial sites. The largest is located in the Drigung Thil monastery. The ritual is performed by special people, rogyaps.
The remaining bones are then ground into powder, mixed with barley flour and fed to the birds again.
Tibetans believe that everyone, at least once in their life, should see the rite of heavenly burial in order to realize and feel all the transience and ephemerality of life.