It’s inevitable that all life will eventually end in death. No matter where a person is in the world, the removal of the dead is a common practice. Even our ancient ancestors the Neanderthals buried their dead. Funerary rites became more elaborate with the incoming of more modern humans. Sometimes the ritual of burying the dead is a wonderful way of giving respect, and saying goodbye. Sometimes it is downright bizarre and just plain weird.

Manila, Philippines

Manila has the highest population density of people per sq mile than anywhere else in the world. There are more than 100,000 people per sq mile in comparison to Los Angeles’ 8,000 per sq mile. Due to overcrowding in cemeteries, people have resorted to ancient custom in order to bury their loved ones. The city’s northwest cemetery holds over 1 million corpses. About 80 people a day come to this place trying to find a place for their dead. Unfortunately, most of the people cannot afford the $10,000 burial costs for their dead, since burial space is a high commodity. Instead, they can rent plots for up to 5 years. When the 5 years is up, the body is “evicted”. Body exhumers then take the bones and place them into sacks, where the remains will then be placed into smaller, more affordable plots. The larger, recently evicted plot can now be rented out again. Any bones that are not collected by family members will be tossed aside in a cellar on the cemetery grounds, never being properly buried thereafter.

Zoroastrian

These burial rites focus on the exposure of the dead. When a person dies, a dog is brought before the corpse. Usually a dog that has “four” eyes is chosen. Of course, the four eyes are the normal two, and a spot above each eye, which supposedly increases the efficacy of the dog’s stare. This is done five times a day. After the first day, a fire is brought into the room where the corpse is kept. The fire burns for three days. After the three days is done, the corpse is taken to the Tower of Silence. The body is removed during the daytime. The interior of the tower has three concentric circles. One for women, one for men, and one for children. The corpses are laid there naked. The vultures then come and strip the corpses of their flesh. The bones are left to dry in the sun. The bones are swept into a central well. On the fourth day of the ritual, it is then that the soul is released from the body, and it reaches the next world to have judgment passed on it by their deities.

Sati

This funerary rite derives itself from the goddess Sati, who immolated (sacrificed) herself. The rite itself required the widow to lay herself down next to her husband and be burned alive on a funeral pyre. The rite is supposed to be voluntary, but such was not always the case. Sometimes women who did not wish to commit sati were drugged, tied down, or even held in the fire by long poles. Usually women of higher caste committed sati, and it was even deemed to be righteous amongst those women who did it. They were considered pious, and all sins accumulated would be washed away. Amazingly this rite is still justified and practiced by some Hindu women in India. While it is not a popular form of being buried, 40 cases have been documented within the last 60 years. An 18-year-old girl, Roop Kanwar committed the act in 1987, although reports speculate that she was drugged and forced to commit the act. Even though strong laws and legislations have been passed to prevent women form doing this, 2 more women in 2006 jumped into their husbands’ fire pyres and committed sati.

Sokushinbutsu

This is a rite where Buddhist monks would purposely cause their own deaths. The practice primarily took place in Japan. For nearly 3 years, the priests would eat a diet of only nuts and seeds. They would set about doing physical activities that would begin to eat away the fat of their body. After the 3 years, they would begin a new diet consisting of bark and roots for another 3 years. They would drink a poisonous tea made from the sap of the Urushi tree (also known as the lacquer tree). The priest would vomit and lose weight due to the loss of body fluids. The priest would then lock himself in a stone tomb, just big enough for him to sit in. Here he would sit in the lotus position. He would be fitted with a small tube to breathe with, and a bell. He would ring the bell each day to let people know he was still alive. When the bell was no longer rung, the tube would be removed, and the tomb would be sealed. After 1,000 days, the other monks of the temple would remove the corpse to see if it had been mummified. If they were, they were seen as Buddhas and put into a temple for viewing.

Sky Burial

Sky burial is a rite that is deeply symbolic to Tibetans. The body is nothing more than a vessel. The soul is freed once the person has died. To get rid of the dead, they are offered to the vultures. The Dakinis (sky dancers) are known as angels to the Tibetans. The vultures, or Dakini, will take the soul to the heavens, where the souls will await reincarnation. The giving of the corpses to the vultures is a sacrifice. It diverts the birds from wanting to hunt smaller animals they might prey on. One of the Buddhas, Sakyamuni demonstrated this virtue by offering his flesh to a hawk to save a pigeon. When a person dies, there body is not touched for 3 days. Monks will chant to the corpse. Before the feasting of the flesh, the body will be cleaned and wrapped in white cloth. They will then be put into the fetal position. A ritual procession will be led to a charnel ground. When the chanting is completed, body breakers begin the task of hacking the body to pieces with a hatchet. Internal organs are cut into small bits. The bones are pulverized and mixed with tsampa (roasted barley flour). The Dakanis are then invited to feast upon the body. To assure that the soul can ascend to heaven the whole body must be consumed.