at
Rajghat, 31 January 1948. It was attended by
Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel,
Jawaharlal Nehru,
Lord and
Lady Mountbatten,
Maulana Azad,
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur,
Sarojini Naidu and other national leaders. His son
Devdas Gandhi lit the pyre. '' of Manikarnika, at
Varanasi, India. The ceremonial offerings varies across the spectrum of
Hindu society. Some of the popular rituals followed in
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,
Varanasi,
Haridwar,
Prayagraj,
Srirangam,
Brahmaputra on the occasion of Ashokashtami and
Rameswaram to complete this rite of immersion of ashes into water.
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, 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),
Kala ('Time', deity of cremation and finality) and the dead. 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. The cold collected ash from the cremation is later consecrated to the nearest river or sea.
Modern cremation methods Both manual bamboo wood pyres and electric cremation are used for Hindu cremations. For the latter, the body is kept on a
bamboo frame on rails near the door of the electric chamber. After cremation, the mourner will collect the ashes and consecrate it to a water body, such as a river or sea.
Burial in Hinduism Apart from the cremation method,
several sects in Hinduism follow the practice of burial of the dead. In some sects, the important
gurus,
swamis 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
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
Namam (sacred soil) as an act austerity for the unfolding of
Dharma Yukam. ==Post Antyesti rituals ==