"Heavenly burial" 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 at all stages of life should try to be useful. Therefore, the dead body is fed to the birds as the last manifestation of charity.
"Celestial burial" is practiced throughout the Tibetan area, including some Indian areas such as Ladakh or the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
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.
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.
There are now about 1,100 heavenly burial sites. The ritual is performed by special people - rogyaps.
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.
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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.
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.
And now reporting without cultural embellishment, just a common thing. First, the body is brought to the valley, unpacked.
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 - it is more convenient for the birds to eat.
One dead man is enough to feed a whole flock.
Hungry birds gnaw a Tibetan to the bone.
You can learn more about this from the interesting book "The Unknown Himalayas" by Himanshu Joshi.
The remaining bones are then ground into powder, mixed with barley flour and fed to the birds again.
Heavenly burial is one of three types of burials used in Tibet. The other two are cremation and dumping into the river.
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.