How were funerals organized in Ancient India and what did they involve?
Funerals in Ancient India were opportunities for people to gather together and demonstrate kinship. When a death was announced – the death of an important enough person, that is – then drummers would at once hired to send out a distinctive rhythm that would spread throughout the village and beyond. Neighbours and relatives would start to congregate at the house of the deceased, wailing and letting down their hair to show their distress. People had no conception of the stiff upper lip which says that it is better to show no emotion in times of stress. Indeed, widows in particular were expected to be completely inconsolable and to scream, wail, tear their clothes and make other signs of distress. Widows were, depending on the time and place, also expected to throw themselves onto their husband’s funeral pyre. It is hard to know how often widows deliberately threw themselves into the flames out of distress, how many times they laid down by their husband’s corpse prior to the flames being lit and then allow themselves to be persuaded to come back down again and how many times they were forced into the flames by zealous relatives. As has so often been the case in history, the methods chosen of ensuring social order and familial solidarity required enormous sacrifices on behalf of the women involved. Entering the flames voluntarily is known as 'suttee,' which means 'good wife.'
The practice also provided an answer of some kind to the question: ‘what value does a widow have?’ In societies in which food is scarce and knowledge and learning the preserve of men, it becomes understandable that old women no longer involved in child bearing become regarded as useless additional mouths to feed.
Funerals had to be organised quickly, since the climate of India brings corruption to the body within a short period. Professional mourners would be engaged to ensure a constant stream of lamentations would demonstrate the value and virtue of the deceased person. Priests would come and supervise the preparation of the corpse for cremation and then burial of the remains. Perfumes and cosmetics were applied and sacrifices, including on occasions a cow, were made to attract the attention of heaven. The place of cremation was customarily beyond the bounds of the village but close to the burial ground. Since it was expected that demons would congregate at such a spot, appropriate precautions would be taken to make sure they dispersed before the ceremonies began. Since they dealt with the dead and the demonic in this way, people had complex relationships with the priests – part admiration and respect, part revulsion.
