Death-
Same Ritual, Different Ceremonies.
Death is the harsh reality
of life and it is next to impossible to deal with it. Whatever be the
situation, death is never acceptable. But at the same time, we cannot escape
from the nature’s law. Every creation has its destruction, and human beings are
not an exception. Dealing with the death of your loved one is the most painful
scenario of life. However, this reality will never change and all of us have to
accept this with heavy hearts.
A funeral is a ritual to mark the end of
a person's life here on earth. Family and friends come together to express
grief, to thank for the life lived and to commend the person into God's
keeping. It is a ceremony for
honoring, respecting, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. There are several Funeral
services such as Hindu funeral services, Asian funeral services, and Sikh
funeral services. These funeral services look after the Hindu Funeral
arrangements and rituals and Asian Funeral
arrangements and other religion Funerals.
Every religion and caste
has different types of rituals performed after death. Muslims, Christians and
Asians bury their dead whereas in Hindus and Sikh
funerals the dead are cremated and
their ashes are immersed in flowing water. Depending on culture and religion, these can
involve either the destruction of the body (for example, by cremation) or its preservation
(for example, by mummification or interment).
Chinese
funeral has several main traditions. There are Buddhist ceremonies that last at
least for 49 days. First 7 days are believed to be the most important. Prayers
are said every 7 days, for 49 days. If a family of the deceased is poor, this
period can be short, lasting for only 3 days. In the second
tradition, the prayer ceremony is held every 10 days: The initial ceremony and
three succeeding periods of 10 days until the final burial or cremation. After
100 days a final prayer ceremony is conducted, but this is optional and not as
important as the initial ceremonies. The Chinese believe that those seven days
after the death of a family member the soul of the departed will return to
his/her home. A red plaque with a suitable inscription may be placed outside
the house at this time to ensure that the soul does not get lost. On the day of
the return of the soul, family members are expected to remain in their rooms.
Flour or talcum powder may be dusted on the floor of the entrance hall of the
home to detect the visit.
In Hindu funerals the day after the cremation, the karta (head
of the family) will return to the crematory and collect the ashes.
Traditionally, the ashes should be immersed in the Ganga River, though other
rivers are becoming acceptable substitutes. For Hindus living outside of India,
there are companies that will arrange for funeral transportation of cremated remains
to India and will submerge the ashes in the Ganga. The cremation of the
deceased marks the beginning of the mourning period, which lasts for 13 days. One year after the death, the family
will observe a memorial event called “sraddha,” which pays homage to the
deceased.
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