Essay On Sky Burial

Sky burial might not be widely known about here in Malaysia but in Tibet, the particular practice that they call jhator, which defines “giving alms to the birds”, is a common affair. Also known as ritual dissection, sky burial is a process for the dead to go through that usually occurs at dawn. The human corpse will be cut at peculiar places and then is put on a mountaintop for it e to exposed to the elements and of course, the animals – in particular, the predatory birds. The whole concept of where the preparation is done and where the sky burial takes place are perceived in the traditions of Vajrayana as charnel grounds. Most Tibetans believe in Buddhism – this also means that they believe in rebirth. The bodies need not to be preserved

Some of the birds have to be persuaded to eat in some of the places where the burial happens as they are a few ‘meals’ a day. To ensure that the birds eat them, a ritual dance will take place. When the vultures do not eat or if they even leave any small part of the body uneaten, it is a bad sign. It’s a different situation altogether for sky burial locations where there are fewer bodies as the vultures need to be kept off with sticks during the early preparations. The full process of sky burial is costly. For the people who could not bear the burden of the cost, they would put the dead’s body on a rock that is high and just let the body decay. Other animals as well as the birds might also eat the body. To those who practice sky burial, they see it as a generous act for the dead since he/she living relatives are making food available for other living things. There were some whom suggested that sky burial is to unite the person with the sky or the holy kingdom but it doesn’t seem to be in line with the Tibetan’s belief of that once the sky burial occurs, the soul leaves the body for good and there is nothing left except for the