Info about Funerals
Funerals worldwide but mostly in USA and Japan
It is terrible to lose someone you cared about or even to find out that an acquaintance passed away. Death is part of our lives and we all have to deal with it at one point or another. Funerals represent the respect we show to the person that passed by burying him or her in an honorable manner, according to his or her beliefs or wishes.
We all know how funerals in the United States are. The services from the funeral house, the wake and the burial. But how are other countries dealing with the death of their loved ones?
In Japan’s case, the respect should be very high for the person who died since their funerals are ones of the most expensive in the world. A modern funeral in Japan includes a few ceremonial practices, even though almost everybody chose to be cremated in the last years. Usually, the funerals are either Buddhist or Shinto. Since the Buddhist ones are the most popular, most of the people have Buddhist funerals. There are a few ceremonies such as putting some water on the dead person’s lips and closing the shrine and then covering it with a white paper. The first ceremony mentioned is Matsugo-no-mizu (The water of the last moment) and the latter Kamidana Fuji (keeps out the spirits). The family sometimes shows respect to the dead by placing a knife on his chest, to protect him from bad spirits and flowers and incense is put on the table, near the deceased. There are a few customs at wakes too, when some guests will give condolence money to the family and a Buddhist priest recites mantras. At the burial, the same priest chants sutras and the dead receives a new name, so that he won’t come back if the relatives call his old name.
In Indian culture, when someone dies, the way he will be dressed can vary depending on his status. On the believers of Lord Vishnu sandal wood paste will be put on their foreheads and for those who worship Lord Shiva, sacred ash. A little water from the Ganges is poured into the deceased’s mouth and lots of jewels are put on him, and also the body gets almost completely covered by flowers. When the body is brought to the cremation location, the jewels are removed and the eldest son starts to sprinkle water on it, then he has the responsibility of lighting the fire.
There are many other customs in the funeral rituals in other countries and they all consist in showing the deceased person respect and love.