Thanatourism is derived from the Ancient Greek word thanatos in mythology, for the personification of death. Thanatourism is an extreme form of grief tourism that involves the dark contemplation of death at the time of its occurrence. Every religion has a different approach to death and in the mountains of Tibet, there is (from the western perspective) a strange and morbid sky burial ritual that has its basis in the Buddhist belief of rebirth after death.
There are 1,075 sky burial sites, where about 100 people called sky burial operators, are designated to perform the rituals. The largest sky burial site, Drepung Monastery, founded in 1416, has received an average of 10 bodies per day for thousands of years.
The sky burial takes place, usually at dawn, and tourists, if allowed, are bathed in juniper incense, while three or four attendants wrap the bodies of the dead and lay them on flat rocky ledges.Monks lead the procession to the burial ground where Tibetan prayer flags surround the area.
The vultures or lammergeyers, known as “dakinis,” or “sky dancers,” hover above the site while strange calls emanate from attendants summoning these birds of prey to devour the pieces of carcass that are tossed 10 to 15 feet in the air toward the sky. Bones are chopped and tossed aside in a methodical and solemn procedure, designed to emphasize the impermanence of life. Since Buddhists believe there is no purpose in keeping the body after death when the spirit has gone, the actual feeding to the vultures is considered a final act of charity, an essential part of the cycle of life and death.
For many, the visits to the sites of these rituals near Mt. Kailish, the home of the Buddhist God Kang Ringboche, are pilgrimages, firmly rooted in religious beliefs. For others, it is a way to connect with nature, to rejuvenate the mind and spirit, to regain a feeling of perspective between man and the universe. Tibet itself is a country so distant that its spirituality seems to be everywhere.
It is entirely possible that thanatourism in Tibet exists simply because of the unknown, mysterious phenomenon of death itself. Although the sky burial may seem primitive and bizarre, its apparent link between the living and the dead seems to provide an opportunity to experience death vicariously. Thanatourists are fascinated with symbolic encounters with death and the more realistic the ritual appears, the greater the fascination.
Sky burials were banned in the 1960s and 1970s to foreigners or Westerners; however, Chinese officials began allowing sky burials again in the 1980s. Again, in 1983, the sites were closed for a time when a group of tourists were stoned by grieving relatives.(Source : http://www.grief-tourism.com/thanatourism-skyburials-in-tibet/ )
Searching for information about this tipe of tourism and about sky burials, i was stoned to see pictures and short films like the one above. There is said that this kind of tourism is no longer practised, but in my reaserch i found photos with people visiting those places in 2007 and in one of the picture's descroption writen "me after the sky burial". The questions are... is it still practised today? and if so ... Can we really call it Tourism?
Some photos ( not for those with weak hearts)
France: Nice
Acum 4 ani
