Pulse List: 7 ways to honour the dead around the world

From around the world, here are the interesting ways in which people honour their dead.

Around the world, many cultures have festivals intended to honour the dead.

We may have different skin tones but we all share one thing in common 'Death'. From around the world, here are the interesting ways in which people honour their dead.

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1. All Saints’ Day/All Souls’ Day

 

All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day are part of a Christian holiday celebrated on the first and second days of November right after All Hallows’ Eve, or Halloween.

This holiday is set to be a time where people remembered the departed, the souls of the faithful Christians, the martyrs and the saints. During these holidays, Christians often visit cemeteries to place flowers and candles on the graves of their loved ones.

2. Gaijatra also known as Festival of Cows

 

Gaijatra is a celebration in Nepal that lasts for eight days in August and September. This occasion is used to commemorate the death of people during the previous year. The festival includes a procession of cows through the centre of town, led by family members who have lost a loved one in the preceding year.

Cows have a sacred status in Hinduism and are therefore thought to help guide the recently deceased to the afterlife. The festival is a light-hearted celebration and is meant to help people accept death and ease the passing of loved ones.

3. Famadihana (Turning of the Bones)

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Famadihana is a very unusual tradition practised in Madagascar. It is the time of the year when Malagasy people remove corpses from their graves or crypts, spray them with perfume or drench them in wine, before wrapping them in silk and carried around the tomb with music and songs.

This unique tradition comes from the belief that, until a body is fully decomposed, spirits of the dead can come and go between their world and ours. As such, the ritual is performed every seven years. The tradition has however declined in recent years.

4. Bon Festival

 

The Bon festival was established to commemorate deceased ancestors.

Celebrated for over 500 years in Japan, the festival lasts for over three days. This Buddhist-Confucian tradition is not a solemn celebration, and often includes feasts with fireworks, games and dances, including the Bon Odori, a dance performed to welcome the spirits of the dead.

5. The Hungry Ghost Festival

The Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated on the fifteenth night of the seventh lunar month (the ‘Ghost Month’).

In the Chinese calendar, the seventh lunar month is when spirits and ghosts are believed to leave the underworld and wander amongst the living.

As such, this is a time to alleviate the sufferings of the dead. The festivities last the whole month, though the fifteenth day is given special attention and offerings are made on it. In addition, many people set an extra seat at the table for the deceased. At the end of the festival, people light flower-shaped water lanterns and place them on lakes or rivers to lead spirits back to the lower realms.

6. Qingming (Ancestors Day)

 

Qingming also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, is celebrated in early April and is a time when families go to the tombs of their ancestors and clean them.

The ritual includes the offering of food and tea, as well as joss paper (sheets of paper that are burned during traditional Chinese ceremonies that honour the deities or ancestors).

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7. Día de Los Muertos

 

Celebrated throughout Latin America and by Mexican-Americans, in the United States, it's most heavily associated with Mexico, where it began.

Día de Los Muertos actually takes place over two days, All Saints Day on November 1 and All Souls Day on November 2. People celebrate the lives of the deceased, complete with food, parades, dances and parties.

Revelers believe that on Día de Los Muertos, the spirits of the dead return to take part in the celebrations alongside the living.

To celebrate, people also decorate and clean the graves of deceased family members, removing weeds and debris and placing things that the deceased enjoyed while alive, food, drink and other offerings at the grave site.

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