Rituals and a
long history
According to Mikles (2021) the earliest writings on
Indian funerary rituals can be found in the Rig Veda – a Hindu religious
scripture orally composed thousands of years ago, potentially as early as 2000
B.C. In the Rig Veda, a hymn, traditionally recited by a priest or an adult
male, urges Agni, the Vedic god of fire, to “carry this man to the world of
those who have done good deeds.”
From the perspective of Hindu, Jain, and Sikh rituals,
the act of cremation is seen as a sacrifice, a final breaking of the ties
between the body and the spirit so it may be free to reincarnate. The body is
traditionally bathed, anointed, and carefully wrapped in white cloth at home,
then carried ceremonially, in a procession, by the local community to the
cremation grounds.
While Hindus and Sikhs often decorate the body with
flowers, Jains avoid natural flowers for concern of inadvertently destroying
the lives of insects that may be hidden within its petals. In all of these
faiths, a priest or male member of the family recites prayers. It is
traditionally the eldest son of the deceased who lights the funerary pyre;
women do not go to the cremation ground.
The changing
times of COVID-19
The wave of death from the COVID-19 pandemic has
forced transformations to these long-established religious rituals. Makeshift
crematoriums are being constructed in the parking lots of hospitals and in city
parks.
Young women may be the only ones available to light
the funerary pyre, which was previously not permissible. Families in quarantine
are forced to use WhatsApp and other video software to visually identify the
body and recite digital funerary rites.
Media reports have pointed out how in some cases,
crematorium workers have been asked to read prayers traditionally reserved for
Brahmin priests or people from a higher caste. Muslim burial grounds have begun
to run out of space and are tearing up parking lots to bury more bodies.
What do you think?
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