Tibet Local Custom Tips by Bonobo2005 Top 5 Page for this destination

Sky Burial 3

The vultures are temporary kept away while the body breakers break and chop the bones.

It's quite an unusual sight for Westeners, but less "disturbing" than expected for most.

However, don't even consider staying around if monks or others have the slightest objections!

Sky Burial 4

15 minutes later the body is gone completely, only part of the skull remains.

At this particular burial of a very old women, that we attended unexpectedly, nobody local was present, which explains why we could come so close and take pictures without offending someone.

The whole procedure took 1 hour and is nothing mysterious or sacred. The soul already left the body and it's just an efficient way to get rid of the remains in a barren land like Tibet.

Sky Burial 2

The hair is cut off and bone breakers cut the body open with a knife and/or chop some parts off the body.

This attracts a huge number of vultures who first eat the most accessible parts of the body.

Sky Burial 1

The way Tibetans get rid of dead bodies is unique and intriguing.

The dead body is kept in sitting position for 24 hrs. while the Lama recites prayers so that the soul can pass the 49 stages between death and rebirth.

Two days later the body is carried to the burial ground, usually on a hill with prayerflags and smoking juniper.