The Cemetary of Gyumri

 

The Cemetary of Gyumri, the Spitak Earthquake some notes on Funeral Traditions

Gyumri has more than one cemetary and we passed one and stopped there. At the center there had been a group of mourning people with lots of military, but the cemetary is vast. It has to be. So we went a little further.

Gyumri (Գյումրի) is the the second largest city of Armenia [1]. It is an old city having been found in the 8th century BC, but the area has been populated since at least the third millennium BC.

The picture of the family, mother and daughter and more I don't want to show have images or even real life images of the deceased persons [2]. Often you read year of death 1988. There is a simple reason: it's the year of the Armenian earthquake aka the Spitak earthquake (Սպիտակի երկրաշարժ), which occurred on the 7th of December [3]. In between 25,000 to 50,000 people were killed, 130,000 were injured.

The funeral (Թաղում) itself takes place on the 3rd day after death, if it isn't a Saturday or Sunday. The lid of the coffin is placed next to the door of the house to inform neighbors and friends or also passers-by of the death, who may come in to respect to the deceased, who would clean hands and shoes with water or a wet towel. “Death and honoring the afterlife is a very important event.” You may read more in the two citations below [4]. The funeral ritual has thress sections [5]:
    Home Service/Wake – Dan Gark (Դեն Գարկ)
    Church Service – Yegeghetsvo Gark (Եղեգեցվո Գարք)
    Graveside Service – Kerezmanee Gark (Քերեզմանի Գարկ)
“Also, no lay person may speak or give eulogies in the sanctuary during either Home Service or Church Service at the Graveside Service. Instead, lay people should speak at the funeral home or the memorial meal (Hokejash).”

The sheer number of dead after the earthquake will not have allowed the funeral rites to be properly observed, which will have increased the grief even further. May the dead rest in peace, but also may the survivors have found their way back to life.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyumri  
[2] With migration being a part not only of the past, I could show you such tombstone works e.g. in Cologne as well.
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Armenian_earthquake
[4] https://www.advantour.com/armenia/traditions/funeral.htm and https://bayercemeterybrokers.com/armenian-burial-traditions/  
[5] https://stjamesevanston.org/sacraments-and-pastoral-care/funeral  

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Funeral Rites at the Ghats at Pashupatinath in Nepal

 

A note of warning and advice:
If you feel agitated by reading about funeral rites, please do not read further. Pictures of the rites will not show naked parts of corpses, which I have blurred, not only for your protection, but also not to display the diseased person.

I have thought for a long time whether I should write about the funeral rites in Pashupatinath, in particular whether I can show photos of them, because there are corpses to be seen. But I think I've found a compromise that allows me to report on this important issue that has been on my mind for over 25 years. I had made a trip to Tibet 25 years ago that started in Nepal and also ended in Nepal and we visited Pashupatinath. There we saw funeral pyres that had fascinated me since then. But there were also disconcerting aspects, such as little boys scampering through the mourners to jump  into the river further up, letting the current carry them downstreams, then coming out of the water below the mourners and then back running through the group of mourners. This did not bother the mourners, because they continued to perform their rites to honor the dead. After that, the burning of the pyre was carried out. We didn't go to opposite of the Pashupatinath Temple at the time, because my friends were too agitated to see the cremation. However, one of the friends later wrote a book titled: Why I am immortal (translation). This time I've been able to see more and do more research and so I want to share this experience, because I think it's very important. I've been interested in burial rites for a long time, not just the funeral customs of peoples outside Europe but also those in Europe and especially in Germany.

Entrance at the other side

I would like to start talking about the Pashupatinath Temple and interestingly the German Wikipedia article is a much better source than the English article for this purpose [1]. Pashupatinath means „Lord of Life“ or „Lord of the Living“ and is located about 5 kilometers east of Kathmandu's  center. The Hindu temple is one of the most important places of worship for Shiva and thousands of Hindus travel there every year. But it is also the place where the cremations take place, below at the ghats. The sanctuary itself was classified  as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

The emergence of Hinduism is dated to 1,200 BC; that means ample time to the development of many traditional rites, especially for honoring or burying the dead [2]. According to Hindu belief, man, like all matter, consists of five basic elements (the Panchamahabhutas - pancha means five, which is why we also know the punch, which originally consisted of five ingredients), which have the properties of earth (pritvi), water (jala), fire (tejas), wind (vayu) and space (akasha). For the Hindu, death means liberation and passage into a new existence – reincarnation – for which personal karma, made up of positive and negative actions, is decisive. The funeral rituals support this. However, attaining a better reincarnation is only an interim goal; the real goal is moksha, liberation from the long chain of incarnations.
In Hinduism, every living being has an immortal self (atman), often translated, not entirely incorrectly, as soul. The atman refers to pure consciousness or witness consciousness, beyond identification with phenomena [3]. With the cleansing of the body comes the cleansing of the soul. Water, milk, and ghee (clarified butter) are used. A five-time circumambulation of the corpse is also performed. According to tradition, the fire is lit by the firstborn son.
When the corpse is half or completely burned. st, one should split the skull; among the Grihashtas (housekeepers) with a log and the ascetics with a coconut. After opening the Brahmarhandhra orifice in this way,  sacrificesare made with e.g. ghee. I haven't seen it myself, maybe just not being there at the right time or the practice has been abandoned. However, Sannyassins may be handed over to the floods unburned (this is meant to be done at the Ganges) or buried. Srila Prabhupada, the Founder Acharya of the Hare Krsna movement, was buried seated in the earth, first covered in sugar [4]. But this is just meant as a small digression.
After the fire has burned out, often after three days, the ashes are then strewn into the river – in this case the Bagmati River, though a wonder whether the three day interval still is feasable with so many people being cremated there. A burial in the ground is possible in principle, but unusual at Pashupatinath. Until 1829, women were immolating themselves with their deceased husbands; however, this ritual has been forbidden [5].

The cremation sites, the Arya Ghats (higher caste cremation sites) and the Surya Ghats (lower caste cremation sites) are on the right bank of the Bagmati River together with the Pashupatinath Temple.
The corpse is usually wrapped in yellow cloth, carried to the ghat and cleansed (feet and face), then offerings are made and afterwards carried to the cremation site, where a pyre has been built, on which the corpse is laid. The firstborn son lits the pyre as already mentioned. Family and friends watch, sometimes from a distance. After about four hours, the body is burned to ashes. The ash and incompletely burned logs are thrown into the river, with unburned jewelry etc. being removed from the ashes beforehand. The river seemed very muddy to me – just weeks before the rainy season.

Shortly after igniting the pyre - 25 years ago

Pyre burning down - 25 years ago

Pyre burning - April 2023

Mourners and purification rites

Bamboo stretchers are prepared to be burned

A closer look at purification rites - the white fluid is milk

On the bamboo stretcher to the funeral pyre

Another group of mourner - this time the diseased person had been in the
security business and the colleagues give the last goodbye

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashupatinath  
[2] https://www.tod-und-glaube.de/die-bestattungskultur-des-hinduismus/ and https://www.pietaet-am-dornbusch.de/  
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80tman_(Hinduism)
[4] Be advised that this video goes far beyond the pictures I show here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXmRMqDbSvo
[5] But such a ritual would prevent young, pretty women from marrying old geezers – not seriously. The ritual has been rightfully abolished. And I guess that more women were immolated instead of having immolated themselves.
 
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Funeral Rites, Tsa-Tsas and Prayerflags for the Dead in Bhutan

 

Allow me to dwell upon the Tibetean Book of the Dead or Bardo Thödol as Dr. W.Y. Evans-Wentz compiled and edited the translation by Lama Kazi Dawa-Sandrup in Sikkim about a hunderd years ago [1].  Lama Kazi Dawa-Sandrup had received private and aroally transmitted instructions concerning higher lamaic techings and especially the rado Thödol in Bhutan. The book has been a milestone in understanding a very important aspect of Vajrayana Buddhism.

Bardo Thödol could be rendered into English as: Liberation by Hearing on the After-Death Plane. The believe is as follows: the dead comes into the Chönyid Bardo and is confused about his state, still thinking to be alive. Incantations by lamas and rituals are performed to guide the dead.

Death in the buddhist way is viewed as a gateway into a new life. Mourning will take up to 49 days to guide the soul towards a smooth rebirth [2]. Prayer flags are erected and lamas are called to perform incantations. Most people in Bhutan are cremated, but in Tibet the traditional form would be sky burial because of the scarcity of firewood. The cremation is also thought to enable a quicker rebirth. One word on the Lhop, however, is necessary as they bury their dead [3].

 

For the king or a high lama the ashes would be buried under a stupa. For commoners this would be to expensive. But the requirements are still high. After cremation ashes are collected and incorporated in Tsa-Tsas.
Tsa-Tsas (also written Tsha-Tshas, where the h stands for aspiration) are small votive figures mostly a chörten, made dust, clay, water, and often the ash from cremation. Tsa-Tsas serve to remember the dead and are placed in sacred caves or places, you cant't travel through Bhutan without seeing them.   One should place 108 of the small chörten tsa-tsas in different places.

Also the family has to erect 108 prayer flags for the diseased person at different places. These flag have only written Om mani padme hum in black letter on a white flag. The flags for the dead don not have any picture as prayerflags commonly have. The poles might be used by someone else, when the flags have been torn. These grouped flagpoles with flags can also be seen along the roads.
 

Links and Annotations:
[1] W. Y. Evans-Wentz (ed.):  The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Oxford University Press, London 1960 [1927 1st ed.], As PDF available: https://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Tibetan-Book-of-the-Dead.pdf
[2] https://www.dailybhutan.com/article/the-death-rituals-and-funeral-rites-in-bhutan  
[3] As this is leading in another direction, please refer to this article: https://www.dailybhutan.com/article/elaborate-death-rituals-and-funerals-by-bhutans-indigeneous-community   

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