Gory Tibetan Funeral

For hundred of years, Tibetan in the open fields have been practising a very unique and gory kind of funeral rites. The Tibetan believe that when a person dies, the soul will leave the body and the physical body left is just an "empty" body.

When a person dies, Buddhist lamas will first be invited to recite Buddhist chant while a funeral date is set. On the funeral day, body of the dead will be laid on empty hillside land which is normally known as "ghost land". There incense are burnt while lamas continue to chant. After the prayer ceremony has ended, the dead body is cut and dismembered into various parts, bones, flesh and organs are separated while the brain is broken with stones. Then the body parts will be burnt and the thick smoke arising from burning serves as an invite to the vultures to come and feed on the body. To Tibetans feeding the vultures with an "empty" dead body is a noble act to do.

( the open area used to lay dead bodies, normally a number of bodies will be laid at once )

Each body is stripped and identified before dismembered

A lama offering prayers to the dead bodies

Getting the bodies ready to be burnt


Sending out "invitation" to vultures through the smoke

Now the vultures have accepted the invitation and are flocking to the area to have a 'feast'