#deathceremony

Papanggan

A ritual to celebrate death with gratitude to life! 💦 'Arghu' (Pae)- the center ceremony in Gurung (Tamu) community to address death of a person entails three days and two nights of rituals to send souls to the Land of the Ancestors. The 'Ghyabri' and 'Pachyu' (priests) are involved with funerary rituals, playing drums and large brass cymbals performing 'Syarka' dance. The day and night continuous ritual of 'Arghu' with gathering of all the relatives at a place sharing same emotion of loss, sorrow, grief, condolence and hopes among each other makes every moment feel divine and sacred; and the death is rather celebrated with gratitude. #gurungculture #deathceremony #gratitudetolife #lamjung #ghanpokhara

In Hinduism, death applies only to the physical body; there is no death of the soul. The Hindu culture has quite a beautiful way of unveiling that the body is just a shell, an empty vessel once the soul is gone. After one has died the surviving family members are responsible for the cremation of the body, as well as the preparations. This process allows a moment of closure and clarity. For a living being to witness a body change chemical form in front of their eyes, pushes acceptance that the "person" is not returning. This is very different than the American culture, which is much more clean cut and sterile. If we throw a white sheet over the body, then it's no longer there...right?