Funeral practices across faiths and regions in India

Indian Express

a day ago

Different cultures imagine the afterlife differently and so have different funeral practices. Typically, those who believe in one life place bodies in tombs and mark burial sites with gravestones. Likewise, those who believe in rebirth merge the body with nature: through fire, water or even exposure to wild animals.
In Assam, the Ahom kings, who came from China via Southeast Asia in the 13th century, used to bury the dead in mounds known as Moidams. Sometimes, even attendants or other people were buried along with the kings. This changed after they became Hindus and started following the practice of cremation. As per the Hindu customs, the bones were then cast into a river to facilitate rebirth. Thus, a shift in funeral practices reveals a shift in culture.
In prehistoric times, pots were integral to burial. In primary burials, ancient people used to bury the dead within pots. In secondary burials, pots would contain bones collected after cremation. Tamil Sangam poetry even refers to a widow asking a potter to create a large pot for her deceased husband. Prehistoric burial sites also have 'cist', pits lined with stones, typically found in South India.
In the Harappan civilization, there was cremation but many communities buried the dead. Burial sites have been found in Harappa where people with very minimal burial goods like beads and some pots. In Dholavira, there are burial mounds with no bodies, perhaps raised in memory of those who died while travelling to distant lands.
Megaliths in the Deccan region are related to burial sites of the Iron Age (1000 BC). Megalithic culture is typical of South Indian culture at the time Vedic culture thrived in Ganga-Yamuna river basin. At the burial sites, the shrine would be made of two vertical stones over which a capstone is placed horizontally (called dolmens). Under the structure, bones and food items were kept to remember the dead.
The Vedas refer to both cremation and burial practices. Cremation is mentioned in both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Dasharatha is cremated. Ravana is cremated. Kauravas are cremated. Post-funeral rituals involved feeding the dead, the Pitr. Funerals are typically in upper caste communities, who can afford firewood. Many lower caste communities continue to follow pre-Vedic burial practices. Burials are often done in fields owned by the family to indicate ownership and proprietorship.
In many parts of India, people were buried in the seated position, especially if they belonged to a religious community. It was believed that people who belonged to a religious community would not be reborn. In many Hindu monasteries, the saint would be buried in a seated position, and tulsi would be planted above it in a specially designed pot.
In the case of Jain monks, often a tree would be planted on the grave or a stupa would be built on top of it. The building of stupas over the bones of cremated monks was a practice which was even followed by the Buddhists. In fact, Buddhists were reviled by the Vedic people as worshippers of bones. Buddhist sites of burial of body or bones were called Stupas while Hindu and Jain sites were called Samadhis.
Sepulchre shrines were built, where the site of burial or the site of cremation would be marked by a temple with an image of the Shivling placed on it. This was practiced by a few Chola kings. In Rajasthan, Gujarat and many parts of India, hero stones marked the spot where a warrior died protecting the village from raiders or wild animals. Sati stones marked spots where women immolated themselves on their husbands' funeral pyre. Nishidhi stones in Karnataka mark sites where Jain sages fasted to death.
Tomb building began with the arrival of Islamic culture in India after the 10th century AD. But tomb building is not an Arabic practice. Rather, it comes from Central Asia. The Arabs buried the dead, and ancient Zoroastrians (Persians) exposed their dead to the elements and wild birds like vultures.
The central Asian tribes, who had embraced Islam, liked to build tombs and began the construction of monumental tombs in India. Therefore, after the 10th century, we find in India the tombs of Khiljis, Tuglaqs, Lodis and Suris, followed by the famous Mughal monuments – the most famous being the Taj Mahal. Sufi saints' burial sites also became places of pilgrimage.
Observing this Muslim practice, many Rajputs began building cupolas and pavilions at the site of royal cremation. These were the Chattris. Some are even found in Maharashtra and Gujarat. This was a practice that became popular from the 13th century to the 19th century. Even today, sites where political leaders are cremated are marked with 'samadhis'. This was against the Vedic belief that no trace of the dead should be kept in order to facilitate rebirth.
There are tribal communities such as the Monpa in Northeast India where the bodies are cut into 108 pieces and the pieces are thrown into rivers to be consumed by fish. Thus, the study of the funeral monuments across India offers insights into the diverse religious practices and beliefs in the country.
Why did the Ahom kings in Assam, who used to bury the dead in mounds known as Moidams, change this practice?
What are hero stones, sati stones, and nishidhi stones, and what do they commemorate?
How have funerary practices been shaped by caste, class, and accessibility—such as the use of firewood for cremation?
What does the evolution of funerary architecture reveal about India's interaction with Persian, Central Asian, and indigenous traditions?
The study of the funeral monuments across India offers insights into the diverse religious practices and beliefs in the country. Comment.
(Devdutt Pattanaik is a renowned mythologist who writes on art, culture and heritage.)
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