Death Ceremony (Libing/Burol)

[tiburcioSais]

Vimla Devi, an Indian woman's fight against cancer, died in 2006. The cause of death was not cancer but fasting for 13 days called santhara. This voluntary death by fasting practiced by the Jains, a society which believes anti-violence against all creatures. Santhara usually begins after a person decides that his life goal has been reached and ready for spiritual purification. Similar ritual known, which is often regarded as a form of suicide or euthanasia. However, in the community, santhara deny this.

[tiburcioSais]

This makes fasting to death sound like a joke. Some Buddhist monks called Sokushinbutsu in Japan not only committed suicide; they also did it in a way that led to their mummification. The process was started with a diet of nuts and fruits combined with hardcore physical activities. Elimination of body fat was achieved with the first step. The second step involved bouts of vomiting, loss of body fluids and poisoning of the body to deter a maggot attack: accomplished by consuming barks, root and a poisonous tea for a thousand days.

In the last stage, the monk would enter a stone tomb, sit in a lotus position and wait for death. He would sound a bell daily to let his fellow monks know he was alive. And then when the “no-bell” day came, the monks would seal the tomb, wait for another 1000 days before opening it to verify the mummification.

[tiburcioSais]

This might be the worst death ritual ever. Endocannibalism is a practice where people eat their own dead. The idea behind the horrid custom could be anything; from imbibing the deceased’s traits to assimilation of the spirit. A few tribes in South America and Australia are said to have practiced this creepy ritual. But many academics feel that endocannibalism is a false accusation thrown at tribes by early colonists to gain an excuse for political domination. According to anthropologist Napolean Changon, the Yanomamo community in South America still eats the ash and ground bones of the deceased after cremation.