In Bhutan, there are
several funeral practices as mentioned below:
1.
Cremation
of dead body at cremation ground or near one’s own house or on a river bank;
2.
Sky
burial, where the body is placed on a mountaintop for vultures to consume;
3.
Water
burial, where the body is immersed in the river and weighed down with heavy
stones, or else cut into small pieces which are then scattered in the river;
4.
Ground
burial, where the body is buried underground;
5.
Cave
burial, where the body is deposited or hidden in caves on cliff faces; and
6.
Surface
burial, where the body is buried above the ground but covered with a structure
made of stones and plaster.
Cremation is the
most common practice throughout the country. People prefer to cremate the body
of a family member at a charnel ground, which has been prepared in accordance
with the mandala of Buddha Akshobhya, and consecrated and blessed by highly
attained lamas.
The Hindus in the
southern foothills cremate their dead on riverbanks so that the ashes and
remaining debris are easily disposed of in the river.
People in Merak and
Sakteng communities dispose of dead bodies in the river or else bury them
underground,
In the Lhop
community, the dead body is buried above the surface of the ground within a
stone mound which is plastered to make it air proof.
Where cremation is
practised, dead children below the age of eight are not allowed to be cremated.
In olden days, they were either taken for sky burial on high mountain tops
where vultures could feed on them, or they were buried in the river, weighed
down with heavy stones to prevent them from being carried downstream.
Sky burial is
discouraged these days, however.
In the event of a
death, it is of utmost importance to seek divination from an astrologer before
disposing of the body. Based on his ruling, various religious and charitable
activities are organised in the name of the deceased.
The main purpose of
such activity is to accumulate enough merit to speed up his or her next rebirth
as a human. Failing to accumulate enough merit will lead the deceased to be
reborn into one of the four unhappy states of existence below the human plane.
The virtuous person
will either take rebirth as a human being, or be reborn in the pure realm of a
Buddha field, from which they may travel the path towards enlightenment without
falling back into the lower realms.
The Buddhist
tradition of funeral rite continues for 49 days after death. Aspiration prayers
for the deceased are recited and rituals performed almost daily by those who
can afford it, depending on the availability of monks or gomchens and nuns.
Those who cannot
afford daily rituals, must at the very least initiate the droda zhip on the 4th
day since the death, duen tshi on the 7th
day, chuzhi tshi on the 14th day and nyishu tsachi or gewa on the 21st
day and finally zhipchu zhegu on the 49th
day for performance of kangsha (prayer rituals) to the various forms of
Compassionate Buddhas (mithrugpa and chenrezig), without fail.
The family also
conducts a ritual at the first anniversary after the passing away of the
person, but for those who can afford it, the anniversary ritual can go on up to
any number of years from the third year onwards.
Relatives and
intimate friends will try to attend all the rites including the annual rites,
but people from the community will prefer to come mostly during the last two
days (i.e. 21st and 49th days since the death).
Following the
funeral rite, a drigo (meaning, an effigy or a photograph of the deceased) is
kept in the corner of the shrine room and offered meals, butter lamps, tshog
(other forms of food), fruits and drinks every day, starting with the first day
of passing away, until the 21st day rite, after which the drigo is removed.
This is because the
soul of the deceased is thought to hover around the body instead of leaving to
seek the path of liberation.
After cremation,
any remaining fragments of bone are collected from the cremation site, then
ground into powder, mixed with clean mud and made into tshatsha (mini stupas).
These are laid in caves, on ledges of cliffs and at other sacred sites before
the 49th day.
One hundred and
eight prayer flags printed with the Chenrezig mantra (om mani padme hum) are
hoisted for the deceased, in order to benefit all sentient beings.
Customarily, the
sixsyllable mani mantra would be sung melodiously with heartfelt devotion by
those present at such rituals, but the practice is slowly diminishing, either
because people nowadays do not know the tradition or because it is coming to be
seen as obsolete.
Even in remoter
areas of the country, the tradition is no longer very strong.
Reference:
Life Cycle : Funeral Customs, ICH
