SKY BURIAL IN TIBET

Sky burial (Tibetanབྱ་གཏོར་, w bya gtor), lit. "alms for the birds") is a funerary practice in the Chinese provinces of Tibet, Qinghai, and Inner Mongolia and in Mongolia proper wherein a human corpse is incised in certain locations and placed on a mountaintop, exposing it to the elements (mahabhuta) and animals – especially predatory birds. The locations of preparation and sky burial are understood in the Vajrayana traditions as charnel grounds.

The majority of Tibetans and many Mongolians adhere to Vajrayana Buddhism, which teaches the transmigration of spirits. There is no need to preserve the body, as it is now an empty vessel. Birds may eat it or nature may cause it to decompose. The function of the sky burial is simply to dispose of the remains in as generous a way as possible (the source of the practice's Tibetan name). In much of Tibet and Qinghai, the ground is too hard and rocky to dig a grave, and, due to the scarcity of fuel and timber, sky burials were typically more practical than the traditional Buddhist practice of cremation. In the past, cremation was limited to high lamas and some other dignitaries, but modern technology and difficulties with sky burial have led to its increasing use by commoners.

History and development

The Tibetan sky-burials appear to have evolved from ancient practices of defleshing corpses as discovered in archeological finds in the region. These practices most likely came out of practical considerations, but they could also be related to more ceremonial practices similar to the suspected sky burial evidence found at Göbekli Tepe (11,500 years before present) and Stonehenge (4,500 years BP). Most of Tibet is above the tree line, and the scarcity of timber makes cremation economically unfeasible. Additionally, subsurface interment is difficult since the active layer is not more than a few centimeters deep, with solid rock or permafrost beneath the surface.
The customs are first recorded in an indigenous 12th-century Buddhist treatise, which is colloquially known as the Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol). Tibetan tantricism appears to have influenced the procedure. Dissection occurs according to instructions given by a lama or adept.
Mongolians traditionally buried their dead (sometimes with human or animal sacrifice for the wealthier chieftains) but the Tümed adopted sky burial following their conversion to Tibetan Buddhism under Altan Khan during the Ming Dynasty and other banners subsequently converted under the Manchu.

Sky burial was initially treated as a primitive superstition and sanitation concern by the Communist governments of both the PRC and Mongolia; both states closed many temples and China banned the practice completely from the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s until the 1980s. Sky burial nonetheless continued to be practiced in rural areas and has even received official protection in recent years. However, the practice continues to diminish for a number of reasons, including restrictions on its practice near urban areas and diminishing numbers of vultures in rural districts. Where the vultures remain, they often react badly to corpses treated with medicine and disinfectants at modern hospitals. Finally, Tibetan practice holds that the yak carrying the body to the charnel grounds should be set free, making the rite much more expensive than a service at a crematoria.

Purpose and meaning

For Tibetan Buddhists, sky burial and cremation are templates of instructional teaching on the impermanence of life. Jhator is considered an act of generosity on the part of the deceased, since the deceased and his/her surviving relatives are providing food to sustain living beings. Such generosity and compassion for all beings are important virtues in Buddhism.
Although some observers have suggested that jhator is also meant to unite the deceased person with the sky or sacred realm, this does not seem consistent with most of the knowledgeable commentary and eyewitness reports, which indicate that Tibetans believe that at this point life has completely left the body and the body contains nothing more than simple flesh.
Only people who directly know the deceased usually observe it, when the excarnation happens at night.

Vajrayana iconography

The tradition and custom of the jhator afforded Traditional Tibetan medicine and thangka iconography with a particular insight into the interior workings of the human body. Pieces of the human skeleton were employed in ritual tools such as the skullcup, thigh-bone trumpet, etc.
The 'symbolic bone ornaments' (Skt: aṣṭhiamudrā; Tib: rus pa'i rgyanl phyag rgya) are also known as "mudra" or 'seals'. The Hevajra Tantra identifies the Symbolic Bone Ornaments with the Five Wisdoms and Jamgon Kongtrul in his commentary to the Hevajra Tantra explains this further.
A traditional jhator is performed in specified locations in Tibet (and surrounding areas traditionally occupied by Tibetans). Drigung Monastery is one of the three most important jhator sites.
The procedure takes place on a large flat rock long used for the purpose. The charnel ground (durtro) is always higher than its surroundings. It may be very simple, consisting only of the flat rock, or it may be more elaborate, incorporating temples and stupa (chorten in Tibetan).
Relatives may remain nearby during the jhator, possibly in a place where they cannot see it directly. The jhator usually takes place at dawn.
The full jhator procedure (as described below) is elaborate and expensive. Those who cannot afford it simply place their deceased on a high rock where the body decomposes or is eaten by birds and animals.
Participants
Prior to the procedure, monks may chant mantra around the body and burn juniper incense – although ceremonial activities often take place on the preceding day.
The work of disassembling of the body may be done by a monk, or, more commonly, by rogyapas ("body-breakers").
All the eyewitness accounts remarked on the fact that the rogyapas did not perform their task with gravity or ceremony, but rather talked and laughed as during any other type of physical labor. According to Buddhist teaching, this makes it easier for the soul of the deceased to move on from the uncertain plane between life and death onto the next life.

Disassembling the body

 
According to most accounts, vultures are given the whole body. Then, when only the bones remain, these are broken up with mallets, ground with tsampa (barley flour with tea and yak butter, or milk), and given to the crows and hawks that have waited for the vultures to depart.
In several accounts, the flesh was stripped from the bones and given to vultures without further preparation; the bones then were broken up with sledgehammers, and usually mixed with tsampa before being given to the vultures. Many rogyapa first feed the bones and cartilage to the vultures, keeping the best flesh until last. After having had their fill of good quality meat, the birds usually fly away - leaving the bones and less favored bits.

In one account, the leading rogyapa cut off the limbs and hacked the body to pieces, handing each part to his assistants, who used rocks to pound the flesh and bones together to a pulp, which they mixed with tsampa before the vultures were summoned to eat.

Sometimes the internal organs were removed and processed separately, but they too were consumed by birds. The hair is removed from the head and may be simply thrown away; at Drigung, it seems, at least some hair is kept in a room of the monastery.

None of the eyewitness accounts specify which kind of knife is used in the jhator. One source states that it is a "ritual flaying knife" or trigu (Sanskrit kartika), but another source expresses scepticism, noting that the trigu is considered a woman's tool (rogyapas seem to be exclusively male).

Vultures

 
The species contributing to the ritual is the "Eurasian Griffon" or "Old World vulture" (order Falconiformes, family Accipitridae, scientific name Gyps fulvus).
In places where there are several jhator offerings each day, the birds sometimes have to be coaxed to eat, which may be accomplished with a ritual dance. It is considered a bad omen if the vultures will not eat, or if even a small portion of the body is left after the birds fly away.
In places where fewer bodies are offered, the vultures are more eager- and sometimes have to be fended off with sticks during the initial preparations.

Muslim Wedding Customs and Traditions in sudan                



 
By Reem Abbas
Journalist- Sudan
Drawing with henna on hands is a popular tradition in Sudanese wedding.
I remember my very first big Sudanese wedding, I was 12 years old and we were in Sudan for the summer. Our preparations began a month before we arrived, I had two dresses tailor-made and I bought two other dresses. I was disappointed when the wedding went on for over a week and I ran out of pretty dresses to wear.

The bride was my mother's first cousin and they were rich and had a spacious house which is a necessity in Sudanese weddings since more than half of your extended family moves in with you weeks prior to the wedding.

At least a month prior to the wedding, the bride is barricaded in her house or a relative's house. She is scrubbed, massaged, pampered and transformed into a completely different person. It is not uncommon for the groom to be utterly confused and shocked at the sight of his bride on their wedding day.

Almost every day for a whole month, the bride goes through a process called "Dokhan" in which she wraps her entire body in a blanket and sits on a hole in the ground. The hole contains burning "Talih" or ember-wood, an aromatic wood that gives the skin a breath-taking glow. During this time, the bride only bathes with water until the layer formed by the "Dokhan" is removed by home-made scrubs made out of lentils, fresh cream, oranges among others and for the more affluent, and a Moroccan bath.

The Sudanese value their traditions from Dokhan to incense (Bakhour) and making their own perfume.

We arrived at my cousin's house at 5 p.m, the July sun was a bit hot and we didn't know what to expect. It was the perfume-making day. Women are hired to sing while making perfume and incense for the bride. From Acacia seyal wood to white musk and sandalwood, Sudanese perfume is made.
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Sudanese Sari, not the wedding ring, can tell whether the lady is married or not.

Wedding Dress and Perfumes Party
You don't have to see a ring to tell whether a woman is married or not, if she is not wearing the traditional sari, then you can tell if she is married by her scent.

Opheera Mcdoom, a Reuters’ reporter who was married to a Sudanese in 2007 describes perfume-making perfectly.

"My Sudanese family spent many hours making traditional perfume. They picked what they call the "fingernails" of sea creatures from the Far East and stuffed hundreds of cloves in apples that they left to dry." She then tells Chanel to eat their heart out.

We could see the gifts purchased by the groom for his future wife showcased in big baskets. Parisian perfumes, lotions, soaps, clothes and accessories.
Sudanese weddings are costly. Before a wedding, neighbors, relatives and friends contribute any amount to help the family pay for the costs. If the family insists on having a long wedding no matter how lavish it is, it is costly because family members who live far tend to stay with the family and thousands of pounds are spent on food alone for guests.
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Write to us about the wedding traditions in your country/community. E-mail the editor via this address.
We went home only to come again the next day for the henna party. The indoor party was exclusive, only family members and friends. We sat inside while Farfour, the most popular singer at the time entertained the audience. Plates with ten different kinds of cookies and exported chocolate were passed around. Chocolate, dates, nuts and home-made cookies are a staple in Sudanese weddings, however, the affluent export them from Dubai, Cairo or Europe.

"I want my daughter's wedding to be a tale in 1,001 nights, I want people to talk about it for 10 years," stated the bride's mother.

They did. I for once couldn't stop thinking about the bridal dancing.
Two days later, the bridal-dancing was scheduled. Sobheya or bridal dancing is an age-old tradition where a woman learns up to 100 dance routines and dances in front of a large crowd of women. My cousin's bridal dancing was inspired by Ancient-Rome (her brother is a designer/ businessman). There was smoke and a mini-temple for the bride's entrance. She was wearing a white dress, contrary to bridal dancing, my cousin did not change her dress. Some brides change up to 4 times and the average time it takes to change a dress is 30 minutes since new makeup is applied and the accessories are usually hard to wear.

The Sobheya ended with "jirtik", a tradition I cannot understand. During this ritual, both parties drink milk and whoever spits milk at the other's face first is supposedly "the leader at home". They are also blessed with perfume and incense to prevent the evil eye from befalling the love birds. The bride traditionally wears a red sari (called Toub in Sudan) and the groom wears a white Jallbeya with red ribbons tied around his head and wrists.

If the bride chooses to have a bridal-dancing then the official wedding ceremony happens in the afternoon of that day or a day before, men from the bride's family and men from the groom's family head to an agreed upon a mosque to sign the documents of marriage contract. Then, they head back home where men and women, mostly elders, will be waiting to have lunch.
Cooks are hired or women from the host family end up making one meal for thousands of guests. Many families including my own value the "bride's mother breakfast". It is breakfast that consists of everything from meat to cookies to salads to bread. It usually arrives in a big pick-up truck where the big pots full of food are beautifully decorated with colorful ribbons (pink is a favorite color).
It is a trend among the richer families to give non-food items as gifts, like refrigerators and microwaves. This ritual is costly and stressful for the bride's family, but it can always be done based on her family's income. Humble families usually skip this tradition and only take home-made cookies as gifts.

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Sudanese weddings are costly. Before a wedding, neighbors, relatives and friends contribute any amount to help the family pay for the expenses.
Where Weddings Held
The actual wedding is held at a club (Coptic Club and the Police Club are popular),  or in a hotel or a tent set on a large plot of empty land in the bride's neighborhood.
The bride's family is usually responsible for the dinner costs at the wedding. The groom is responsible for hiring the musician and the bride's dress and makeup. Due to Sudan's emergency law, all parties end at 11:00 pm. Guests start arriving at 8:00 and the couples arrive at 9 or even 10 since they take a long time at the studio to take pictures with their loved ones.

Some weddings end with an overnight. It is called an overnight because it starts after 12 and is held at a house. A security permit is a necessity if the party is held outdoors, but indoor parties can go on until the morning.

Overnights are exclusive and are for very close family members and friends. They are usually the best part of the wedding and I always look forward to them.

A few years ago, I went to an overnight that went on until 7 in the morning. We all had breakfast and tea before arriving at our house at 10 a.m.