Funeral Traditions
Eric Boston
Hindu Funeral Traditions
1. Hindus believe that hands behind the head can cause death of your parents, as well as a lizard falling on your head can cause death
2. There are scripture verses read about death and rebirth.
3. There is a feast for the person after 16 days. White, non-fancy clothes are worn to show respect.
4. There is a funeral that is designed to show respect to the dead and create purity. The body is covered in flowers and then cleansed after the service.
5. There is a feast 16 days after the person dies to show respect to them and celebrate their life.
6. The body is cremated within 12 hours of the passing, then bones are disposed in the sea after 5 days, and then the soul is brought up to Lord Vishnu.
Christian Funeral Tradititions
1. Christians believe there is a heaven and hell that one will go to after death.
2. There are usually sermons that take place about comfort to the family and some things about the person written by the pastors.
3. Christians believe in dressing as you would for a church service with not going too crazy or colorful, but also not completely black.
4. There usually is a funeral where the person is remembered and celebrated, then the person is usually either cremated or buried based on what the family or what the person wanted.
5. Usually there will be food to share based on what people wanted to bring to share with others.
6. Christians believe in cremation or burial depending on what the person who died wanted to have.
Buddhist Funeral Traditions
1. It is “bad luck to bring a corpse into a home if a person has died elsewhere.” (Buddhist Belief in Funerals)
2. There can be scripture read from Buddhist teachings if the family wants at the funeral
3. People are advised not to dress to fancy and to just be normal as if the person would want you to be
4. As soon as the person dies, family cleans and dresses the body in normal clothes. They can donate their organs but also be cremated by monks or buried. Services can be on the 3rd, 7th, 49th, or 100th day after death
5. They believe in serving food after the service, but not having food as a gift
6. Buddhism practices cremation by monks or burial.