Life After Death

THE cremation of Lama Kushuk Bakoula, a 86-year old chief lama of Ladakhis last week, showed one of the unique practices of Ladakhi Buddhist...

THE cremation of Lama Kushuk Bakoula, a 86-year old chief lama of Ladakhis last week, showed one of the unique practices of Ladakhi Buddhists. The lama8217;s cremation in Spituk monastery in Leh came 12 days after his death in Delhi.

The Rinpoche, a religious-political leader, had played a crucial role in reviving Buddhism abroad. His body, bedecked with flowers, was kept in the monastery for twelve days. That may appear a long period but for the Ladakhis it reflects changing times. After all, their tradition dictates that a body be kept for 49 days before being cremated.

8216;8216;Four to five days is very normal even today,8217;8217; says Namgyal, a government official from Ladakh posted in Delhi.

Keeping the dead for such a long period is what distinguishes the Buddhists of Ladakh from the ones in Tibet. In fact, in parts of Tibet, the body is dismembered and fed to birds. 8216;8216;The Tibetan way is considered most appropriate as per the ancient scriptures. But the Ladakhis for some unknown reasons like to keep the bodies of their dead ones for long,8217;8217; says Thupstan Chewwang, chief Councillor of Leh Hill Council.

Historians, however, say religion had probably nothing do to with this tradition which originated out of sheer necessity. 8216;8216;Ladakh has seen roads only in the past three decades and earlier it was difficult to inform relatives about a death in the family. And so the body was kept for a while so that they could come,8217;8217; says a monk.

Ladakh is one of the least populated regions in the world, the density being two persons per square kilometres. So communication has never been simple in the region. The weather8212;minus being the average temperature for most part of the year8212;helped preserve the body naturally. 8216;8216;The temperature in Ladakh ranges between 1 degree celsius to -10,8217;8217; says a relative of the late Rinpoche.

8220;Since there were very few roads in Ladakh, informing relatives of a death took very long. That probably started the tradition of staggering cremations8221;

8216;8216;The bigger the stature of the dead person, the longer his body is kept till cremation,8217;8217; says Lama Lobzang, a senior Buddhist leader. A lama8217;s body is kept in a meditating posture by other monks and how they do this is a secret they don8217;t reveal to anyone. 8216;8216;Traditions are changing and now you can even see the bodies being kept in a lying position which is completely forbidden in Buddhism.8217;8217;

Each day after the death, close relatives of the deceased take charge of the prayers8212;chanting hymns from Tibetan scriptures before the body. It is believed that praying before a body ensures that the person is reborn in an exalted form. 8216;8216;We believe that a Lama monk is reborn after 49 days of his death,8217;8217; says Lama Lobzang. In fact, the practice of keeping the dead for a long period of time is also followed in some other regions such as Bhutan.