for INDIAN PEOPLE and whoever is interesred!!!!!!!!!?

Question

why do you indian people burn the dead body ... well after it's gone ... i mean dead????????? it's weird.... and if u don't think so .. then change my opinion... ok

Answer 1

It is an ancient custom among Hindus to cremate their dead. After a person dies, it is understood that the lighting of the funeral pyre will be led by the eldest son of the deceased. In this article, a number of issues dealing with cremation and its origins are discussed.


During early days of civilization, fire used to be started by rubbing sticks of special materials against each other. Lighting any fire afresh therefore used to be a difficult task that was time-consuming, laborious and required a lot of effort and energy. One of the prayers (Book 1: Hymn 94.3) in the Rig Veda, "O Agni, may we have power to kindle thee," indicates that the person lighting a flame had to be in good physical condition.


A ritual fire, such as in yajna (fire worship) or cremation (using a pyre of wood), was usually ignited afresh. This would also mean therefore that a healthy and strong person in the family had to light the fire on any special occasion. A physically fit and robust son would naturally be an ideal choice for this job. In this regard, a number of Vedic prayers were dedicated for obtaining a good, strong and healthy offspring (usually a male). It was expected that he would eventually be involved in fire starting duties. Moreover, by igniting the fire himself, he would spare his family from depending on others for lighting the ritual flame or borrowing it from outside.


The practice of a strong male (usually the son) lighting the funeral pyre slowly grew into a custom, which over time became quite rigid. It implied that a son had to perform the last rites for his parents. It also led to the unfortunate belief that the last rites for a parent would not be acceptable religiously unless the deceased's son had carried them out. This thinking put more pressure on the families to have sons while undermining the importance of daughters.

http://www.geocities.com/lamberdar/cremation.html

Answer 2

There's nothing particularly weird about cremation -- lots of cultures do it, not just those of the Far East. In fact, very few religions forbid it. Some people don't like the idea of their bodies liquefying over the years, and others like the idea that a cremated body in an urn can be reasonably kept in the home, or interred somewhere taking up less space than a coffin would use.

Other people are concerned about the cumulative effects that decomposing bodies (including embalming fluid) are having on the environment. (And they are having an effect, although there are reportedly some environmental side effects of cremation as well.)

As a bonus, cremation tends to be cheaper.

You'll find more info at the links below. The second link, an article about the amount of space used by cemeteries and the burial of the dead, is particularly interesting.

Hope that helps!

Answer 3

It is a ritual and it disposes of the body. I have never been a big fan of burial since the real estate required to bury everyone who dies in the world everyday is equal to a medium sized farm. I would prefer to be cremated and my ashes returned to the earth where they came from.

Answer 4

it is just an old ritual. first of all only hindus burn and india is a secular country and there r muslims and christians too who bury the body.
secondly hindus believe that body is made up of five parts earth, wind, water, fire and sky so by burning these parts r restored to all the basic owners , so we burn dead bodies just like muslims bury, it is a way of respecting our elders

Answer 5

i think it's because they believe the soul will reincarnate and take another body. it's more of a religious belief and everyone certainly has their own beliefs, so they have a right to burn the dead if they choose to. we in the US also choose what happens to us, to be cremated, buried, even mummified.

Answer 6

I dunno much about Indian culture to do with they're dead but. We burn the body here to like to cremate it.