Antyesti
Encyclopedia
Antyesti or Hindu
funeral rites
, also referred to as Antim Sanskar, is an important Sanskara, sacrament
of Hindu
society. Extensive texts of such rites are available, particularly in the Garuda Purana
. There is wide inconsistency in theory and practice, and the procedures differ from place to place. Further, these rites also differ depending on the caste
, jāti
, social group, and the status of the deceased person.
, human bodies were either exposed to the elements of nature, and to the birds, or buried in the earth, in a river, and sometimes a cave or an urn. Centuries later, cremation became the usual mode of disposal of the dead bodies, with certain exceptions – the exceptions being bodies of infants, yogis, sadhus, and a few others. Cremation became popular due to the Hindu concept of detachment of soul from the body at the time of death, and the transmigration of the soul from one body to another.
vary from place to place. Immediately after the death, family members close the mouth
and eyes of the deceased, and put the arms straight. The body is placed on the floor with the feet pointing towards the south which is the direction of the dead. An oil lamp is lit and placed near the body, this lamp is kept burning continuously for the first three days following death. In Hinduism, the dead body is considered to be symbol of great impurity hence minimal physical contact is maintained, perhaps to avoid the spread of infections or germs. Most often the body is bathed by purified water, and then dressed in new clothes, if the dead was a male or a widow then generally white clothes are used, whereas if the dead was a married woman with her husband still alive or a young unmarried girl, then the body is dressed either in red or yellow. Sacred ash (bhasma) is applied on the forehead of the deceased, especially for the worshippers of Lord Shiva
(Saivites), otherwise sandalwood paste is applied on the forehead, if the dead was a worshipper for Lord Vishnu
(Vaishnava). Further, a few drops of the holy Ganges water may be put into the mouth of the deceased so that the soul may attain liberation, also a few leaves of the holy basil (tulsi
) are placed on the right side of the dead body. The body then may be adorned with jewels, and placed lying on a stretcher, with the feet pointing towards the south. Sometimes the body may be kept in a sitting position too. The stretcher is adorned with different flowers including roses, jasmine, and marigolds, and the body is almost covered with the flowers. Thereafter, the close relatives of the deceased person carry the stretcher on their shoulders to the cremation ground. If it is located at a distance, traditionally the stretcher is placed on a cart pulled by animals like bullocks. Nowadays vehicles are also used.
The cremation ground is called Shmashana
(in Sanskrit
), and traditionally it is located near a river, if not on the river bank itself. There, a pyre is prepared, on which the corpse is laid with its feet facing southwards, so that the dead person can walk in the direction of the dead. The jewels, if any, are removed. Thereafter, the chief mourner (generally the eldest son) walks around the pyre three times keeping the body to his left. While walking he sprinkles water and sometimes ghee
onto the pyre from a vessel. He then sets the pyre alight with a torch of flame. The beginning of the cremation heralds the start of the traditional mourning period, which usually ends on the morning of the 13th day after death. When the fire consumes the body, which may take a few hours, the mourners return home. During this mourning period the family of the dead are bound by many rules and regulations of ritual impurity. Immediately after the cremation the entire family is expected to have a bath. One or two days after the funeral, the chief mourner returns to the cremation ground to collect the mortal remains and put them in an urn. These remains are then immersed in a river. Those who can afford it may go to select places like Varanasi
, Haridwar
, Allahabad
, Sri Rangam
and Kanya Kumari to perform this rite of immersion of mortal remains.
The preta
-karma
is an important aspect of Hindu funeral rites, and its objective is to facilitate the migration of the soul of the dead person from the status of a preta (ghost or spirit) to the abode of the ancestors (Pitrs). It is believed that if this stage of funeral rites is not performed or performed incorrectly, the spirit of the dead person shall become a ghost (bhuta
). The rites generally last for ten or eleven days, at the end of which the preta is believed to join the abode of the ancestors. Thereafter, they are worshipped during the 'sraddha
' ceremonies.
If a person dies in a different country, in a war, or drowns, or in any other manner that his body cannot be retrieved for the antyesti, his funeral rites may be performed without the dead body, and similar procedures are followed had the dead body been available. If such a person is later discovered to have not actually died, then "resurrection" rituals are mandatory before his being admitted to the world of the living. The Hindu communities in the United States have begun to look at streamlining the process of cremation rituals and post-cremation observances.
says the mantras and the karta follows them. The body is lifted and kept in the funeral van. The grandson carries a ghee-flame and takes a few steps and the van follows. Then the van speeds up and reaches the cremation ground. The purohit chants the mantras and the karta follows him. Relatives and friends visit and offer their condolences. The host is not supposed to welcome them. The relatives silently go off without saying goodbye.
While taking the dead in vehicle /carry them flowers are spread all over the path carried.
The following is based on Madras brahmin
practice. The body is handed over to the Government officials at the crematorium. The officials consent to burn the body once you produce a doctor's certificate of death. The person who does the actual burning is called vettiyaan. He covers the body with wooden logs and then with dried dung cakes. The face and chest are left open. The karta is given burning pieces of coal and he places the coal very tenderly on the chest of the departed. Then the face is covered. The funeral party returns home after this. The vettiyan takes care of the further burning. He ensures that the body is fully burnt.
The body is kept on a bamboo
frame and frame is kept on a railing near the door of the electric chamber. The door is opened, the railing is moved, the body goes into position and the railing is pulled back. Then the operator turns the switch on. The target temperature is around 500 degrees Celsius plus. The chamber coils are kept on right from the morning, body or no body. It takes around an hour for the body to burn. The black smoke can be seen from the very tall stack above the chamber. (Here also, the karta puts the burning pieces of coal on the chest of the body before the body is pushed into the chamber). The ashes are given to the karta. Again there are some mantras and work on the ground. Once over, the karta goes to a water body, say a beach, and immerses the ashes in the water (sanjayanam).
For electrical burning the body should not be bathed.
(called 'Sastrigal').
, it was formerly illegal to conduct a traditional outdoors Hindu cremation under the 1902 Cremation Act
, with Hindus having to cremate their dead in indoor crematoriums instead. In 2006, Daven Ghai, a British Hindu who had been refused the right to have a traditional funeral by Newcastle City Council
, brought a case to court in which he claimed that the current law did in fact allow open air cremations, so long as they were in some enclosed building and away from the public. A High Court ruling disagreed with his claim, and the-then Justice Secretary Jack Straw
stated that the British public would "find it abhorrent that human remains were being burned in this way." Nonetheless, upon taking it to the Court of Appeals
in 2010, the judge, Lord Justice Neuberger, ruled that such a cremation would be legal under the 1902 Act, so long as it was performed within a building, even an open-air one. Upon his victory, Ghai told reporters that "I always maintained that I wanted to clarify the law, not disobey or disrespect it" and expressed regret at the amount that the trial had cost the taxpayer. He stated that he was thankful that he now had "the right to be cremated with the sun shining on my body and my son lighting the pyre" and he and other Hindus and Sikhs in the country had begun investigations into finding a site upon which they could perform the funerary ceremonies.
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
funeral rites
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
, also referred to as Antim Sanskar, is an important Sanskara, sacrament
Sacrament
A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...
of Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
society. Extensive texts of such rites are available, particularly in the Garuda Purana
Garuda Purana
Garuda Purana is one of the Puranas which are part of the Hindu body of texts known as smriti. It is a Vaishnava Purana and its first part contains a dialog between Vishnu and Garuda, the King of Birds...
. There is wide inconsistency in theory and practice, and the procedures differ from place to place. Further, these rites also differ depending on the caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
, jāti
Jati
Jāti is the term used to denote clans, tribes, communities and sub-communities in India. It is a term used across religions. In Indian society each jāti typically has an association with a traditional job function or tribe, although religious beliefs Jāti (in Devanagari: जाति Tamil:சாதி) (the...
, social group, and the status of the deceased person.
History
Before the dominance of Vedic Aryan culture in the Indian subcontinentIndian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
, human bodies were either exposed to the elements of nature, and to the birds, or buried in the earth, in a river, and sometimes a cave or an urn. Centuries later, cremation became the usual mode of disposal of the dead bodies, with certain exceptions – the exceptions being bodies of infants, yogis, sadhus, and a few others. Cremation became popular due to the Hindu concept of detachment of soul from the body at the time of death, and the transmigration of the soul from one body to another.
Stages
Hindu funeral rites may generally be divided into four stages:- The rituals and rites to be performed when the person is believed to be on the death bed.
- Rites which accompany the disposal of the dead body.
- Rites which enable the soul of the dead to transit successfully from the stage of a ghost (pretaPretaPreta, प्रेत or Peta is the name for a type of being described in Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, and Jain texts that undergoes more than human suffering, particularly an extreme degree of hunger and thirst...
) to the realm of the ancestors, the PitrsPitrsThe Pitṛs , are the spirits of the departed ancestors in Hindu culture.They are often remembered annually.It is a Hindu's duty to his ancestors to beget at least one son, so that he may continue to make offerings to the Pitris....
. - Rites performed in honor of the Pitrs.
Process
Procedures for cremationCremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
vary from place to place. Immediately after the death, family members close the mouth
and eyes of the deceased, and put the arms straight. The body is placed on the floor with the feet pointing towards the south which is the direction of the dead. An oil lamp is lit and placed near the body, this lamp is kept burning continuously for the first three days following death. In Hinduism, the dead body is considered to be symbol of great impurity hence minimal physical contact is maintained, perhaps to avoid the spread of infections or germs. Most often the body is bathed by purified water, and then dressed in new clothes, if the dead was a male or a widow then generally white clothes are used, whereas if the dead was a married woman with her husband still alive or a young unmarried girl, then the body is dressed either in red or yellow. Sacred ash (bhasma) is applied on the forehead of the deceased, especially for the worshippers of Lord Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
(Saivites), otherwise sandalwood paste is applied on the forehead, if the dead was a worshipper for Lord Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
(Vaishnava). Further, a few drops of the holy Ganges water may be put into the mouth of the deceased so that the soul may attain liberation, also a few leaves of the holy basil (tulsi
Tulsi
Ocimum tenuiflorum Ocimum tenuiflorum Ocimum tenuiflorum (also tulsi, tulasī, or Holy Basil is an aromatic plant in the family Lamiaceae which is native throughout the Old World tropics and widespread as a cultivated plant and an escaped weed. It is an erect, much branched subshrub 30–60 cm...
) are placed on the right side of the dead body. The body then may be adorned with jewels, and placed lying on a stretcher, with the feet pointing towards the south. Sometimes the body may be kept in a sitting position too. The stretcher is adorned with different flowers including roses, jasmine, and marigolds, and the body is almost covered with the flowers. Thereafter, the close relatives of the deceased person carry the stretcher on their shoulders to the cremation ground. If it is located at a distance, traditionally the stretcher is placed on a cart pulled by animals like bullocks. Nowadays vehicles are also used.
The cremation ground is called Shmashana
Shmashana
Shmashāna also spelled as Smashan is the name for Hindu cremation ground, where dead bodies are brought and then lit on pyre to be burnt.The word has its origin from Sanskrit language, Sham means Shava, a corpse. Shana means Shanya a bed. It is usually located near a river or water body in...
(in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
), and traditionally it is located near a river, if not on the river bank itself. There, a pyre is prepared, on which the corpse is laid with its feet facing southwards, so that the dead person can walk in the direction of the dead. The jewels, if any, are removed. Thereafter, the chief mourner (generally the eldest son) walks around the pyre three times keeping the body to his left. While walking he sprinkles water and sometimes ghee
Ghee
Ghee is a class of clarified butter that originated in South Asia and is commonly used in South Asian cuisine....
onto the pyre from a vessel. He then sets the pyre alight with a torch of flame. The beginning of the cremation heralds the start of the traditional mourning period, which usually ends on the morning of the 13th day after death. When the fire consumes the body, which may take a few hours, the mourners return home. During this mourning period the family of the dead are bound by many rules and regulations of ritual impurity. Immediately after the cremation the entire family is expected to have a bath. One or two days after the funeral, the chief mourner returns to the cremation ground to collect the mortal remains and put them in an urn. These remains are then immersed in a river. Those who can afford it may go to select places like Varanasi
Varanasi
-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
, Haridwar
Haridwar
Haridwar is an important pilgrimage city and municipality in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India...
, Allahabad
Allahabad
Allahabad , or Settled by God in Persian, is a major city of India and is one of the main holy cities of Hinduism. It was renamed by the Mughals from the ancient name of Prayaga , and is by some accounts the second-oldest city in India. It is located in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh,...
, Sri Rangam
Srirangam
Srirangam , Old name is Vellithirumutha gramam and Tamil name is Thiruvarangam , is an island and a part of the city of Tiruchirapalli , in South India....
and Kanya Kumari to perform this rite of immersion of mortal remains.
The preta
Hungry ghost
Hungry ghost is a Western translation of Chinese , a concept in Chinese Buddhism and Chinese traditional religion representing beings who are driven by intense emotional needs in an animalistic way....
-karma
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
is an important aspect of Hindu funeral rites, and its objective is to facilitate the migration of the soul of the dead person from the status of a preta (ghost or spirit) to the abode of the ancestors (Pitrs). It is believed that if this stage of funeral rites is not performed or performed incorrectly, the spirit of the dead person shall become a ghost (bhuta
Bhuta
Bhūta is a Sanskrit word that has several meanings:* true, matter of fact, reality, existing, present, being or being like anything, consisting of, mixed or joined with...
). The rites generally last for ten or eleven days, at the end of which the preta is believed to join the abode of the ancestors. Thereafter, they are worshipped during the 'sraddha
Śrāddha
Śrāddha or Shraaddha is a Sanskrit word which literally means anything or any act that is performed with all sincerity and faith . In the Hindu religion, it is the ritual that one performs to pay homage to one’s 'ancestors' , especially to one’s dead parents...
' ceremonies.
If a person dies in a different country, in a war, or drowns, or in any other manner that his body cannot be retrieved for the antyesti, his funeral rites may be performed without the dead body, and similar procedures are followed had the dead body been available. If such a person is later discovered to have not actually died, then "resurrection" rituals are mandatory before his being admitted to the world of the living. The Hindu communities in the United States have begun to look at streamlining the process of cremation rituals and post-cremation observances.
Preparation of the body
The body is cleaned up by pouring water over it. The water is poured by sons and daughters. Then it is draped in a fresh, washed cloth. The relatives put uncooked rice over the mouth of the deceased.Funeral procession
The karta ("doer", who performs the rites) has a quick bath (no soap, etc). Sits on the ground in the wet clothes. He wears only a single cloth. The purohitPurohit
Purohit in Indian religious context means a family priest, from Sanskrit , translated as: one placed foremost, from Puras meaning front, and hita, placed. Rajpurohit is a term used to denote a priest for a royal family or a king who was the authorized person that carried out rituals for the...
says the mantras and the karta follows them. The body is lifted and kept in the funeral van. The grandson carries a ghee-flame and takes a few steps and the van follows. Then the van speeds up and reaches the cremation ground. The purohit chants the mantras and the karta follows him. Relatives and friends visit and offer their condolences. The host is not supposed to welcome them. The relatives silently go off without saying goodbye.
Cremation
There is a choice of manual burning and electric burning.While taking the dead in vehicle /carry them flowers are spread all over the path carried.
- Manual burning:
The following is based on Madras brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
practice. The body is handed over to the Government officials at the crematorium. The officials consent to burn the body once you produce a doctor's certificate of death. The person who does the actual burning is called vettiyaan. He covers the body with wooden logs and then with dried dung cakes. The face and chest are left open. The karta is given burning pieces of coal and he places the coal very tenderly on the chest of the departed. Then the face is covered. The funeral party returns home after this. The vettiyan takes care of the further burning. He ensures that the body is fully burnt.
- Electric burning:
The body is kept on a bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
frame and frame is kept on a railing near the door of the electric chamber. The door is opened, the railing is moved, the body goes into position and the railing is pulled back. Then the operator turns the switch on. The target temperature is around 500 degrees Celsius plus. The chamber coils are kept on right from the morning, body or no body. It takes around an hour for the body to burn. The black smoke can be seen from the very tall stack above the chamber. (Here also, the karta puts the burning pieces of coal on the chest of the body before the body is pushed into the chamber). The ashes are given to the karta. Again there are some mantras and work on the ground. Once over, the karta goes to a water body, say a beach, and immerses the ashes in the water (sanjayanam).
For electrical burning the body should not be bathed.
Nitya vidhi
Three stones are buried in two separate places. If you are in a village, one set in the house (griha dwara kundam) and another near some water body (nadi theera kundam). The first day, the karta pours water on the ground in which the stones are buried. This is done at both sites. In the home site, you break tender coconuts and pour on the stone site. This is done accompanied by mantras. The idea is to quench the thirst of the deceased person. This goes on for another 9 days. Then there are separate functions on 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th days.- 10th day: Lot of food stuff is prepared and the relatives throw the same (lob) into a cloth spread on the floor.
- 13th day: Puja for gods is done. Includes navagraha homam. The water from the puja is sprinkled all over the house to purify the place.
Masyam or mAsika
Thereafter, offerings to the departed are made each month. These events are called Sodakumbam and Masyam. These are performed on the day of death which repeats each month. Western calendar dates are not used for this purpose. Instead, a concept called Thithi is used. There are 15 thithis in a full cycle of thithis and there are two such cycles in a month. The exact is derived from the South Indian Tamil Almanac with the help of a purohit. These offerings are made on two separate days each month. The events are conducted with the help of a purohitPurohit
Purohit in Indian religious context means a family priest, from Sanskrit , translated as: one placed foremost, from Puras meaning front, and hita, placed. Rajpurohit is a term used to denote a priest for a royal family or a king who was the authorized person that carried out rituals for the...
(called 'Sastrigal').
Special food offerings
In addition functions are held on the 27th and 45th days after the death, where again the main idea is to offer food to the departed soul through living brahmins. Usually the son or the nearest male relative carries the rites.Abdhikam
This goes on for 12 months. In the 12th month, a function called Abdhikam is conducted. As above, this function incorporates the relevant pujas and daanams (gifts to brahmins). The value of the gifts depends on how much money you have. This ritual is repeated annually.United Kingdom
In the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, it was formerly illegal to conduct a traditional outdoors Hindu cremation under the 1902 Cremation Act
Cremation Act 1902
The Cremation Act 1902 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, given the royal assent on 22 July 1902. The major purpose of the Act was to allow burial authorities to establish crematoria...
, with Hindus having to cremate their dead in indoor crematoriums instead. In 2006, Daven Ghai, a British Hindu who had been refused the right to have a traditional funeral by Newcastle City Council
Newcastle City Council
Newcastle City Council is the local government authority for Newcastle upon Tyne, a city in Tyne and Wear, England. The council consists of 78 councillors, three for each of the city's 26 wards...
, brought a case to court in which he claimed that the current law did in fact allow open air cremations, so long as they were in some enclosed building and away from the public. A High Court ruling disagreed with his claim, and the-then Justice Secretary Jack Straw
Jack Straw
Jack Straw , British politician.Jack Straw may also refer to:* Jack Straw , English* "Jack Straw" , 1971 song by the Grateful Dead* Jack Straw by W...
stated that the British public would "find it abhorrent that human remains were being burned in this way." Nonetheless, upon taking it to the Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals
A court of appeals is an appellate court generally.Court of Appeals may refer to:*Military Court of Appeals *Corte d'Assise d'Appello *Philippine Court of Appeals*High Court of Appeals of Turkey*United States courts of appeals...
in 2010, the judge, Lord Justice Neuberger, ruled that such a cremation would be legal under the 1902 Act, so long as it was performed within a building, even an open-air one. Upon his victory, Ghai told reporters that "I always maintained that I wanted to clarify the law, not disobey or disrespect it" and expressed regret at the amount that the trial had cost the taxpayer. He stated that he was thankful that he now had "the right to be cremated with the sun shining on my body and my son lighting the pyre" and he and other Hindus and Sikhs in the country had begun investigations into finding a site upon which they could perform the funerary ceremonies.