Hindu Funeral Rites (Antyeshti)
What happens at a Hindu funeral: care of the dying, cremation, scattering the ashes, the period of mourning, shraddha rites for ancestors, and Hindu funerals in the UK.
The Hindu funeral, called antyeshti, meaning “last sacrifice”, is the final samskara, or rite of passage. Hindus believe that the soul (Atman) is eternal and that death is a passage from one body to the next, or towards liberation. Funeral rites help the soul leave its body and journey onward peacefully, and help the family mourn, honour the dead and return to normal life.
At the time of death
Ideally, a dying person is surrounded by family, who chant prayers and the names of God. It is considered auspicious to die with God's name on one's lips, as the Bhagavad Gita teaches that whatever one remembers at the moment of death shapes one's future state (8.5–6). A few drops of water from the Ganges and a tulsi leaf may be placed in the dying person's mouth. Many people wish to die at home, and some elderly Hindus travel to Varanasi in the hope of dying there, believing that death in Kashi brings liberation.
Preparing the body
After death, the body is usually laid on the floor, often with the head pointing south, the direction of Yama, god of death. Close family members wash it, anoint it and dress it, traditionally in white for men and widows, and in red or bridal clothes for married women who die before their husbands. A lamp is lit near the head, and relatives sit and pray.
Cremation
Most Hindus are cremated, ideally within a day of death. The fire is understood to release the soul from the body and to return the body to the five elements. Traditionally the body is carried on a bier to the cremation ground by male relatives, who chant “Ram naam satya hai” (“the name of Rama is truth”).
The chief mourner, traditionally the eldest son, walks around the pyre and lights it. In India, cremations take place on open-air pyres, most famously at the ghats of Varanasi, such as Manikarnika Ghat, where fires burn day and night.
Some groups are traditionally buried rather than cremated, including young children and sannyasis (renunciants), who are considered to have already renounced their bodies.
The ashes
A day or so after the cremation, the ashes and bone fragments (asthi) are collected. They are immersed in a sacred river, ideally the Ganges at Varanasi, Haridwar or Prayagraj, or another flowing river or the sea. Many British Hindu families take the ashes to India, while others immerse them in British rivers or the sea.
Mourning
A period of mourning follows, often lasting ten to thirteen days. The family is considered ritually impure during this time, and may stay at home, avoid celebrations and temple visits, eat simple food and receive visitors who come to offer condolences. Readings from scripture, such as the Bhagavad Gita or the Garuda Purana, are common. Male relatives may shave their heads. On the final day, the family holds rites and a meal, and life returns to normal.
Shraddha: remembering ancestors
During the mourning period, the family offers balls of rice (pinda) to nourish the soul on its journey and to give it a new subtle body. After the first year, the dead are remembered each year on the anniversary of death with a shraddha ceremony, offering food to Brahmins, the poor or animals on the ancestor's behalf. During Pitru Paksha, a fortnight in September or October, Hindus honour all their ancestors.
Hindu funerals in the UK
In Britain, Hindu funerals usually take place at a crematorium. Many crematoria allow the family to perform rites before the cremation and to witness the coffin entering the cremator, and the chief mourner may press the button or switch that begins the cremation, in place of lighting the pyre. Arranging the funeral quickly can be difficult because of the need for a death certificate, and in some cases a coroner's involvement. In 2010 the Court of Appeal considered a British Hindu's wish for an open-air cremation, and accepted that it could take place lawfully within a walled structure with an opening in the roof.
Sources and further reading
- Jonathan Parry, Death in Banaras (Cambridge University Press, 1994).
- Gavin Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism (Cambridge University Press, 1996), chapter 9.
- R (Ghai) v Newcastle City Council [2010] EWCA Civ 59.