y
vultures and birds of prey (Khawant). The Parsis of
Bombay, who are fire-worshippers, have an analogous
custom in the exposure of their dead on the top of the
grim Towers of Silence, where the vultures speedily
pick the bones clean of all flesh. The object that the
Parsis desire to attain by this quaint practice is to
insure that their elements of earth, air, fire and water
should not be defiled as they would be if burial or
cremation or casting in the river were adopted.
Similarly orthodox Parsis do not smoke, as they do not
wish to pollute their element of air. Reverting to the
Tibetans of Western Tibet we find that the fourth
method of disposing of the corpse is to cut the flesh
and bones into thousands of fragments and to throw
them into the river (Urant).
A variation is to bury the corpse for a week or a
fortnight, and then after disinterment to give it to
the fowls of the air, or cutting it piecemeal to cast the
fragments into the water. The bodies of persons
who have died of any serious disease are invariably
buried, or thrown into a pit and covered over with
earth. In all principal respects there is practical
agreement between the customs in force in this part
of Western Tibet and those of Central Tibet mentioned
by Colonel Waddell, the Lamas invariably posing as
indispensable for a good re-birth, or the finding of
the way to heaven, and of absolutely primary importance
in securing the transfer of the soul from one
part of hell to another more favourable quarter, or its
transmigration from some inferior animal to a higher
plane of existence. In the words of the Tibetan
proverb : “ Without lamas god is unapproachable.” *
* For further details vide “ The Bhotias of Almora and British Garhwal ”
by the Author. (“ Asiatic Society of Bengal Memoirs,” i. 8.)
The ceremonies of the Bhotias compare strikingly
with the above.
In regard to funeral customs a distinction is drawn
between little children and grown-up persons, the
line of separation being the permanent teeth. As
soon as the milk teeth are being replaced by the permanent
ones a child passes from the one category
to the other. Little children are wrapped in wool
and buried facing the east, the head being to the north
and the feet to the south, and little is done in the way
of ceremonial, though should the child be on the point
of getting its second teeth children of a similar age
are feasted on boiled rice. The dead body of a grownup
person is placed in a white cotton bag (Katro)
with the knees touching the chin, and not at full length
as is the practice of the Hindus; further, the bag is
sewn with thread spun contrary to the usual way.
The bier is the same as that used by Hindus, viz., two
poles with slats of wood across. The corpse is then
placed on the bier, with the face to the east, and is
carried head foremost in the procession. To the front
of the bier is fastened a piece of white cloth, cotton
if the deceased is a man and woollen if a woman
(the latter being specially prepared by the women
folk for themselves), which is carried by the deceased’s
women relations on their heads in front of the bier,
their Chuklas, or head gear, being turned inside out.
The cloth is known as Am Lugara, Am meaning a
way and Lugara cloth, the signification being that
the spirit or soul of the deceased can be thus easily
guided forth. The Chinese have a somewhat similar
practice and use a white banner. The procession
is led by a young boy or girl, with fire in the hand
for the funeral pyre, next come the women holding