ReggieHuntley0 at 15:32, 7 January 2026

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{{short description|Funeral rites for the dead in Hinduism}}
{{For|Final rites in [[Sikhism]]|Antam Sanskar}}
[[File:Hindu funeral.jpg|thumb|An 1820 painting showing a Hindu funeral procession in south India. The pyre is to the left, near a river, the lead mourner is walking in front, the dead body is wrapped in white and is being carried to the cremation pyre, relatives and friends follow<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3058333&partId=1 Museum record 2007,3005.2] The British Museum, London</ref>]]

'''Antyesti''' ([[IAST]]: Antyeṣṭi, {{langx|sa|अन्त्येष्टि}}), also known as '''Antima Samskara''', '''Antya-kriya''', '''Anvarohanyya''', or as '''Vahni Samskara''',<ref name="cologne2">[http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=HK&beginning=0+&tinput=funeral+&trans=Translate&direction=AU Antayesti] Cologne Sanskrit Digital Lexicon, Germany</ref> literally means "last sacrifice" or "final auspicious ceremony", and refers to the funeral rites for the dead in [[Hinduism]], which usually involves [[cremation]] of the body. This rite of passage is the last samskara in a series of traditional life cycle [[Sanskara (rite of passage)|samskaras]] that start from conception in Hindu tradition.<ref>Pandey, R.B. (1962, reprint 2003). ''The Hindu Sacraments (Saṁskāra)'' in S. Radhakrishnan (ed.) ''The Cultural Heritage of India'', Vol.II, Kolkata:The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, {{ISBN|81-85843-03-1}}, p.411 to 413</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Celebrating Life Customs around the World: From Baby Showers to Funerals [3 volumes]|last=Ph.D|first=Victoria Williams|date=2016-11-21|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781440836596|pages=118|language=en}}</ref>

The details of the Antyesti ceremony depend on the region, social group, gender and age of the dead.<ref>Rajbali Pandey (2013), Hindu Saṁskāras: Socio-religious Study of the Hindu Sacraments, 2nd Edition, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120803961}}, pp. 234-245</ref><ref name=olsonant/><ref name=fowler>J Fowler (1996), Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices, Sussex Academic Press, {{ISBN|978-1898723608}}, pp. 59-60</ref>

==Etymology==
''Antyeṣṭi'' (अन्त्येष्टि) is a composite Sanskrit word of ''antya'' and ''iṣṭi'', which respectively mean "last" and "sacrifice" or "auspicious ceremony".<ref>[http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/tamil/index.html anta, yASTi] Monier Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary] Cologne Sanskrit Digital Lexicon, Germany</ref> Together, the word means the "last sacrifice". Similarly, the phrase ''Antima Samskara'' literally means "last sacred ceremony, or last rite of passage".<ref>[http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/tamil/index.html antima, saMskara] Monier Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary] Cologne Sanskrit Digital Lexicon, Germany</ref>

==Scriptures==
[[File:Bagamati cremation.jpg|thumb|A Hindu cremation rite in [[Nepal]]. The samskara above shows the body wrapped in saffron cloth on a pyre.]]
The ''Antyesti'' rite of passage is structured around the premise in ancient literature of Hinduism that the microcosm of all living beings is a reflection of a macrocosm of the universe.<ref name=terje>Terje Oestigaard, in The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial (Editors: [[Sarah Tarlow]], Liv Nilsson Stut), Oxford University Press, ISBN, pp. 497-501</ref> The soul (Atman, Brahman) is the essence and immortal that is released at the ''Antyeshti'' ritual, but both the body and the universe are vehicles and transitory in various schools of Hinduism. The human body and the universe consist of five elements in Hindu texts – air, water, fire, earth and space.<ref name=terje/> The last rite of passage returns the body to the five elements and its origins.<ref name=olsonant>Carl Olson (2007), The Many Colors of Hinduism: A Thematic-historical Introduction, Rutgers University Press, {{ISBN|978-0813540689}}, pp. 99-100</ref><ref name=terje/> The roots of this belief are found in the Vedas, for example in the hymns of [[Rigveda]] in section 10.16, as follows,

{{Blockquote|
<poem>
Don't burn him through, Agni; don't scorch him; don't singe his skin, nor his body.|
When you will make him cooked to readiness, Jātavedas, then impel him forth to the forefathers.||
When you will have made him cooked to readiness, Jātavedas, then deliver him to the forefathers.||
When he will embark on the (way) leading to (the other) life, then he will lead at the will of the gods.|
Let your eye go to the sun, your life-breath to the wind. Go to heaven and to earth as is fitting.|
Or go to the waters, if it has been fixed for you there. Take your stand in the plants with your limbs.||
</poem>
|Rigveda 10.16 <ref>English Translation: Jamison and Brereton (Translator){{cite book|author=Stephanie Jamison|title=The Rigveda –– Earliest Religious Poetry of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1LTRDwAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0190633394|page=1395}}; <br>Wendy Doniger (1981), The Rig Veda, Penguin Classics, {{ISBN|978-0140449891}}, see chapter on Death</ref>}}

The final rites of a burial, in case of untimely death of a child, is rooted in Rig Veda's section 10.18, where the hymns mourn the death of the child, praying to deity Mrityu to "neither harm our girls nor our boys", and pleads the earth to cover, protect the deceased child as a soft wool.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/rigvedasanhitc06wils#page/46/mode/2up Sukta XVIII - Rigveda], English Translation: HH Wilson (Translator), pp. 46-49 with footnotes;<br>Wendy Doniger (1981), The Rig Veda, Penguin Classics, {{ISBN|978-0140449891}}, see chapter on Death</ref>

==Antyesti practices==
[[File:Cremation at Rajghat.jpg|thumb|250px|Cremation of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] at [[Raj Ghat and associated memorials|Rajghat]], 31 January 1948. It was attended by [[Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel]], [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Lord]] and [[Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma|Lady Mountbatten]], [[Abul Kalam Azad|Maulana Azad]], [[Rajkumari Amrit Kaur]], [[Sarojini Naidu]] and other national leaders. His son [[Devdas Gandhi]] lit the pyre.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1948/01/31/Cremation-of-Gandhis-body/1311719724408/|title=Cremation of Gandhi's body|website=UPI}}</ref>]]
[[File:Burning ghats of Manikarnika, Varanasi.jpg|thumb|250px|''Burning [[ghats]]'' of Manikarnika, at [[Varanasi]], India.]]

The ceremonial offerings varies across the spectrum of [[Hindu]] society. Some of the popular rituals followed in [[Hinduism|Vedic religions]] after the death of a human being, for their peace and ascent to heaven are as follows.

===Shmashana - the cremation ground===

The cremation ground is called ''[[Shmashana]]'' (in [[Sanskrit]]), and it is located near a river, if not on the river bank itself. Those who can afford it may go to special sacred places like [[Puri]], [[Gaya (India)|Gaya]], [[Varanasi]], [[Haridwar]], [[Allahabad|Prayagraj]], [[Srirangam]], [[Brahmaputra]] on the occasion of Ashokashtami and [[Rameswaram]] to complete this rite of immersion of ashes into water.<ref>Christopher Justice (1997), Dying the Good Death: The Pilgrimage to Die in India's Holy City, SUNY Press, {{ISBN|978-0791432617}}, pp. 39-42</ref>

===Cremation rituals ===
{{anchor | CR | Feet | Cremation rituals }}

The last rites are usually completed within a day of death. While practices vary among sects, the body is generally washed, wrapped in white cloth, if the dead is a man or a widow, or red cloth, if it is a woman whose husband is still alive,<ref name=fowler/> the big toes are tied together with a string and a ''Tilak'' (red, yellow or white mark) is placed on the forehead.<ref name=olsonant/> The dead adult's body is carried to the cremation ground near a river or water, by family and friends, and placed on a pyre with feet facing north.<ref name=fowler/>

The eldest son, or a male mourner, or a priest – called the lead cremator or lead mourner – then bathes himself before leading the cremation ceremony.<ref name=olsonant/><ref name=carrie>Carrie Mercier (1998), Hinduism for Today, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199172542}}, p. 58.</ref> He circumambulates the dry wood pyre with the body, says a eulogy or recites a hymn, places sesame seeds or rice in the dead person's mouth, sprinkles the body and the pyre with ghee (clarified butter), then draws three lines signifying ''[[Yama]]'' (deity of the dead), ''[[Kāla (time)|Kala]]'' ('Time', deity of cremation and finality) and the dead.<ref name=olsonant/> Prior to lighting the pyre, an earthen pot is filled with water, and the lead mourner circles the body with it, before lobbing the pot over his shoulder so it breaks near the head. Once the pyre is ablaze, the lead mourner and the closest relatives may circumambulate the burning pyre one or more times. The ceremony is concluded by the lead cremator, during the ritual, is ''kapala kriya'', or the ritual of piercing the burning skull with a stave (bamboo fire poker) to make a hole or break it, in order to release the spirit.<ref>Rajbali Pandey (2013), Hindu Saṁskāras: Socio-religious Study of the Hindu Sacraments, 2nd Edition, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120803961}}, page 272</ref>

All those who attend the cremation, and are exposed to the dead body or cremation smoke take a shower as soon as possible after the cremation, as the cremation ritual is considered unclean and polluting.<ref>George Castledine and Ann Close (2009), Oxford Handbook of Adult Nursing, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199231355}}, pages 757-758</ref> The cold collected ash from the cremation is later consecrated to the nearest river or sea.<ref name=carrie/>

In some regions, the sons and other male relatives of the deceased shave their heads and beards and invite all neighbours, friends and relatives, on the tenth, eleventh or twelfth day, to eat a simple meal together in remembrance of the deceased. This day, in some communities, also marks a day when the poor and needy are offered food in memory of the dead.<ref>Colin Parkes et al (2015), Death and Bereavement Across Cultures, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415522366}}, pp. 66-67.</ref>

===Modern cremation methods ===

Both manual bamboo wood pyres and electric cremation are used for Hindu cremations.<ref>Hiro Badlani (2008), Hinduism: Path of the Ancient Wisdom, {{ISBN|978-0595701834}}, p. 292.</ref> For the latter, the body is kept on a [[bamboo]] frame on rails near the door of the electric chamber.<ref>Denise Cush, Catherine Robinson and Michael York (2007), Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0700712670}}, p. 38.</ref> After cremation, the mourner will collect the ashes and consecrate it to a water body, such as a river or sea.

===Burial in Hinduism ===
{{anchor | Bury | Burial }}
[[File:Hindu grave in Bali.jpg|thumb|A Hindu grave in Bali]]
Apart from the cremation method, [[Hindu denominations|several sects in Hinduism]] follow the practice of burial of the dead. In some sects, the important [[guru]]s, [[swami]]s or [[sadhus]] are buried. The preparatory rituals are more or less similar to cremation viz, washing the body, applying [[vibhuti]] (holy ash) and [[kumkum]] or holy paste (sandalwood) on the forehead of the deceased etc., but instead of cremating, the deceased is buried. The body is either placed in sleeping position or in some Shaivite and tribal traditions is in [[Lotus position|Padmasana]] sitting position with legs folded and arms resting on the thigh simulating meditative position. The burial pit is prepared in the community burial ground called Shamshana, usually situated outside the city or village. Some affluent will bury their dead in their own field. The burial pit for sleeping position is generally three feet wide and six feet long and for sitting position it is three feet by three feet. As a thumb rule in all the sects invariable the saints are buried in sitting position in a separate place where later on a Samadhi is built which becomes a place of worship. For example, followers of [[Ayyavazhi]] sect bury the body, facing the geographic [[north]] in a padmasana position, without [[coffins]] and it is covered by sand or [[Thirunamam|Namam]] (sacred soil) as an act austerity for the unfolding of [[Dharma Yukam]].

==Post Antyesti rituals ==

Other [[Indian rituals after death]] include [[Indian rituals after death#Niravapanjali|Niravapanjali]], [[Tarpana]], [[Śrāddha]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Shradh Puja: Five Facts you should Know about Death Anniversary Ritual In Hinduism|date=4 September 2017|website=NewsGram|url=https://www.newsgram.com/five-facts-you-should-know-about-death-anniversary-ritual-shradh-puja-in-hinduism/|access-date=23 August 2021|archive-date=24 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124175408/https://www.newsgram.com/five-facts-you-should-know-about-death-anniversary-ritual-shradh-puja-in-hinduism|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Rasam Pagri]],<ref name="ref18dymtb">{{Citation | title=Veins of devotion: blood donation and religious experience in north India | author=Jacob Copeman | publisher=Rutgers University Press, 2009 | isbn=978-0-8135-4449-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EbSXa5Fag9gC&q=%22Rasam+Pagri%22+-inpublisher%3Aicon&pg=PA60 | quote=''... rasam pagri is the passing of the deceased male's turban to ... 'When people have the funeral gathering, a turban (pagri) is put on the elder son to show he is now responsible for the family ...''|page=60| year=2009 }}</ref> [[Pitru Paksha]].<ref name=sharma>{{cite book |last=Sharma |first=Usha |year=2008 |title=Festivals In Indian Society |chapter=Mahalaya |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-8324-113-7 |volume=2 |pages=72–73 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z6OYRUEAF7oC&q=pitru%20paksha&pg=PA72}}</ref><ref name=underhill>{{cite book |last=Underhill |first=M M |year=2001 |title=The Hindu religious year |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-81-206-0523-7 |pages=112–116|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fb9Zc0yPVUUC&q=sraddha&pg=PA114}}</ref><ref name=vidya>{{cite book |last=Vidyarathi |first=L P |year=1978 |title=The Sacred Complex in Hindu Gaya |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |pages=13,15,33,81,110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S4FidiusPr0C&q=mahalaya&pg=PA34}}</ref>

===Genealogy registers ===

Many people visit Hindu pilgrimage sites to perform, ''Śrāddha'' ceremonies, like [[Gaya, India|Gaya]], [[Pehowa#Gene|Pehowa]],<ref name="gen2">[http://www.overseasindian.in/2007/dec/news/20072712-183237.shtml Tracing your Asian roots] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426041339/http://www.overseasindian.in/2007/dec/news/20072712-183237.shtml |date=26 April 2017 }} www.overseasindian.in.</ref><ref name="gen3">[http://www.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/roots/asian/countries/lds.htm Hindu Pilgrimage Marriage Records] ''www.movinghere.org.uk''.</ref><ref name="gen4">[https://www.indiatimes.com/culture/travel/10-places-across-the-world-that-help-you-trace-your-ancestors-249825.html 10 Places Across The World That Help You Trace Your Ancestors], India Times, 29 Jan 2016.</ref> [[Kurukshetra]], [[Haridwar]], [[Gokarneshwar]], [[Nashik]] etc. where they also update their genealogy registers maintained by [[pandit|pandas]].

* [[Hindu genealogy registers at Chintpurni, Himachal Pradesh]]
* [[Hindu genealogy registers at Haridwar]]
* [[Hindu genealogy registers at Jawalamukhi, Himachal Pradesh]]
* [[Hindu genealogy registers at Kurukshetra, Haryana]]
* [[Hindu genealogy registers at Peohwa, Haryana]]
* [[Hindu genealogy registers at Trimbakeshwar, Maharashtra]]
* [[Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi]]

==Observance by Hindu communities outside India and Nepal==
[[File:Ubud Cremation 1.jpg|thumb|Cremation of the dead by Hindus in [[Ubud]], Bali, Indonesia.]]

===Trinidad and Tobago===

Hindus brought into [[Trinidad and Tobago]] as indentured laborers for plantations between 1845 and 1917, by the British colonial government, suffered discriminatory laws that did not allow cremation, and other rites of passage such as the traditional marriage, because the colonial officials considered these as pagan and uncivilized barbaric practices. The non-Hindu government further did not allow the construction of a crematorium.<ref name=mocall>[[Marion O'Callaghan]] (1998), [http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1178&context=jhcs&sei-redir=1&referer=https%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com%2Fscholar%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3DHinduism%2Bin%2Bthe%2BIndian%2BDiaspora%2Bin%2BTrinidad%26btnG%3D%26as_sdt%3D1%252C6%26as_sdtp%3D#search=%22Hinduism%20Indian%20Diaspora%20Trinidad%22 "Hinduism in the Indian Diaspora in Trinidad"], ''Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies'', Vol. 11, No. 5, pp. 2-10.</ref> After decades of social organization and petitions, the Hindus of Trinidad gained the permission to practice their traditional rites of passage including ''Antyesti'' in the 1950s, and build the first crematorium in 1980s.<ref name=mocall/>

===United Kingdom===

In the [[United Kingdom]], it was formerly illegal to conduct a traditional outdoors Hindu cremation under the [[Cremation Act 1902|1902 Cremation Act]], with Hindus having to cremate their dead in indoor crematoriums instead. In 2006, Daven Ghai, a British Hindu who had been refused the right to have a traditional funeral by [[Newcastle City Council]], brought a case to court in which he claimed that the current law did in fact allow open air cremations, so long as they were in some enclosed building and away from the public.<ref name=indep/> A High Court ruling disagreed with his claim, and the-then Justice Secretary [[Jack Straw]] stated that the British public would "find it abhorrent that human remains were being burned in this way." Nonetheless, upon taking it to the [[Court of Appeals]] in 2010, the judge, Lord Justice Neuberger, ruled that such a cremation would be legal under the 1902 Act, so long as it was performed within a building, even an open-air one.<ref name=indep/> Upon his victory, Ghai told reporters that "I always maintained that I wanted to clarify the law, not disobey or disrespect it" and expressed regret at the amount that the trial had cost the [[taxpayer]].<ref name=indep>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/davender-ghai-wins-funeral-pyre-battle-1895116.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/davender-ghai-wins-funeral-pyre-battle-1895116.html |archive-date=2022-05-07 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Hindu healer wins funeral pyre battle |journal=The Independent |first=Jerome |last=Taylor | location=London | date=2010-02-10 | access-date=2010-04-25}}</ref> He stated that he was thankful that he now had "the right to be cremated with the sun shining on my body and my son lighting the pyre" and he and other Hindus and Sikhs in the country had begun investigations into finding a site upon which they could perform the funerary ceremonies.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100211/jsp/frontpage/story_12093239.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100214233133/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100211/jsp/frontpage/story_12093239.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 14, 2010 |title=UK funeral rights for Hindus |journal=The Telegraph |first=Amit |last=Roy |year=2010}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Antam Sanskar]]
* [[Cremation in the Christian World]]
* [[Cemetery H culture]]
* [[Raj Ghat and associated memorials]]
* [[Sanskara (rite of passage)]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*[[S. P. Gupta]]: Disposal of the Dead and Physical Types in Ancient India (1971)

==External links==
*[http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/savifadok/466/1/1_Logic_of_Cremation.pdf The Logic of Cremation in Indic Contexts: An Anthropological Analysis], Roger Ballard, United Kingdom, A High Court of Justice ordered analysis of the demand for a right to traditional Hindu and Sikh cremation ritual in the United Kingdom (2006), with [http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/savifadok/466/2/2_Cremation_Addenda.pdf Addendum and Supplementary submissions to the Court], Heidelberg University [http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/savifadok/volltexte/2009/466 Archive]
*[https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/mar/26/father-hindu-funeral-cremation-tanith-carey My father's Hindu funeral] Tanith Carey, The Guardian (2011)

{{Death in Hinduism}}
{{Hindu samskaras|state=collapsed}}
{{Worship in Hinduism}}
{{Brahmanda}}
{{HinduMythology}}
{{Hindudharma}}

[[Category:Samskaras]]
[[Category:Hindu rituals related to death]]
[[Category:Funerals in Nepal]]

Antyesti - Revision history

ReggieHuntley0 at 15:32, 7 January 2026