Editing Cremation (section)

=== Hinduism ===
{{see also|Antyesti}}
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Burning ghats of Manikarnika, Varanasi.jpg|''Burning [[ghats]]'' of Manikarnika, at [[Varanasi]], India.
Cremation at Rajghat.gif|Cremation of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] at [[Raj Ghat and associated memorials|Rajghat]], 31 January 1948. It was attended by [[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>[http://www.upi.com/Archives/1948/01/31/Cremation-of-Gandhis-body/1311719724408/ Cremation of Gandhi's body, JAMES MICHAELS, January 31, 1948]</ref>
Bagmati River, Pashupatinath, Nepal バグマティ川とパシュパティナート火葬場 5790.jpg|Cremation process at Pashupatinath temple.
Bagamati cremation.jpg|A Hindu cremation rite in [[Nepal]]. The [[Samskara (Indian philosophy)|samskara]] above shows the body wrapped in saffron red on a pyre.
2015-03-09Bagmati River, Pashupatinath, Nepal バグマティ川とパシュパティナート火葬場DSCF6170☆彡.JPG|Cremation taking place at Pashupatinath Temple.
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[[Indian religions]] such as [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Jainism]], and [[Sikhism]] practice cremation. The founder of Buddhism, the [[The Buddha|Buddha]], was cremated.

A dead adult Hindu is mourned with a cremation, while a dead child is typically buried.<ref name=olsonant/><ref name=fowler>J Fowler (1996), Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices, Sussex Academic Press, {{ISBN|978-1898723608}}, pages 59–60</ref> The rite of passage is performed in harmony with the Hindu religious view 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, pages 497–501</ref> The soul ([[Atman-Brahman|Atman]], Brahman) is the essence and immortal that is released at the ''Antyesti'' ritual, but both the body and the universe are vehicles and transitory in various schools of Hinduism. They consist of [[Pancha Bhuta|five elements]] – air, water, fire, earth, and space.<ref name=terje/> The last rite of passage returns the body to the five elements and origins.<ref name=olsonant>Carl Olson (2007), The Many Colors of Hinduism: A Thematic-historical Introduction, Rutgers University Press, {{ISBN|978-0813540689}}, pages 99–100</ref><ref name=terje/><ref>{{cite book| author = Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami| title = Living With Siva: Hinduism's Contemporary Culture| year = 2001| publisher = Himalayan Academy| isbn = 0-945497-98-9| page = 750 }}</ref> The roots of this belief are found in the Vedas, for example in the hymns of [[Rigveda]] in section 10.16, as follows:

{{Poemquote|
Burn him not up, nor quite consume him, Agni: let not his body or his skin be scattered,
O all possessing Fire, when thou hast matured him, then send him on his way unto the Fathers.
When thou hast made him ready, all possessing Fire, then do thou give him over to the Fathers,
When he attains unto the life that waits him, he shall become subject to the will of gods.
The Sun receive thine eye, the Wind thy ''Prana'' (life-principle, breath); go, as thy merit is, to earth or heaven.
Go, if it be thy lot, unto the waters; go, make thine home in plants with all thy members.<ref>Sanskrit: [http://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेद:_सूक्तं_१०.१६ ऋग्वेद: सूक्तं १०.१६] Wikisource;<br />[https://archive.org/stream/rigvedasanhitc06wils#page/38/mode/2up Sukta XVI – Rigveda], English Translation: HH Wilson (Translator), pages 39–40;<br />Wendy Doniger (1981), The Rig Veda, Penguin Classics, {{ISBN|978-0140449891}}, see chapter on Death</ref>}}

The final rite in the case of untimely death of a child is usually not cremation but a burial. This is rooted in Rigveda's section 10.18, where the hymns mourn the death of the child, praying to deity [[Mrtyu|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), pages 46–49 with footnotes;<br />Wendy Doniger (1981), The Rig Veda, Penguin Classics, {{ISBN|978-0140449891}}, see chapter on Death</ref>

Ashes of the cremated bodies are usually spread in rivers, which are considered holy in the Hindu practice. The [[Ganga|Ganges]] is considered to be the holiest river, and [[Varanasi]], situated on the banks of the river, is regarded as the most sacred site for cremation.

==== Balinese ====
[[File:Ubud Cremation 1.jpg|thumb|upright|Cremation of the dead by Hindus in [[Ubud]], Bali, Indonesia.]]
[[Balinese people|Balinese]] Hindu dead are generally buried inside the container for a period of time, which may exceed one [[month]] or more, so that the cremation ceremony ([[Ngaben]]) can occur on an auspicious day in the [[Balinese people|Balinese]]-[[Javanese people|Javanese]] [[Calendar]] system ("[[Saka calendar|Saka]]"). Additionally, if the departed was a court servant, member of the court or minor [[Nobility|noble]], the cremation can be postponed up to several years to coincide with the cremation of their [[Prince]]. Balinese funerals are very expensive and the body may be interred until the family can afford it or until there is a group funeral planned by the village or family when costs will be less. The purpose of burying the corpse is for the [[Decomposition|decay]] process to consume the [[fluid]]s of the corpse, which allows for an easier, more rapid and more complete cremation.