Sky Burial

Sky burial is a ritual practice common in Tibet that involves a priest's cutting the human corpse into small pieces and then placing it on top of a mountain and expose it ritually, especially to birds of prey.












This way of disposing of a human corpse is not, as some believe, a ritual to honour the birds of prey. The majority of Tibetans adhere to Buddhism, which teaches rebirth after death. Because the soul disintegrates at death, there is no need to keep the body, as it is now an empty vessel. Birds may eat it, or nature may let it decompose. Therefore, the function of the sky burial is simply the disposal of the remains. Other reasons of why the body may not be buried or cremated is because the rugged Tibetan terrain makes the ground too hard to dig, and with fuel and timber scarce, the sky burial is more practical.