15 Bizarre Burial Rituals From Around the World
Death is the great equalizer, yet there are significant cultural and historical differences in the ways that we respect and remember our departed loved ones. These customs frequently represent important historical events, spiritual beliefs, and cultural values that may appear strange to outsiders but have great significance for individuals who follow them.
These 15 strange funeral customs from throughout the world demonstrate how inventive and occasionally shocking humankind can be when it comes to paying respect to the deceased.
Sky Burial
In a Tibetan sky burial, the body is left on a mountainside for vultures to devour. Buddhist charity and the realization that the body is only a receptacle are the foundations of this practice.
Additionally, the ceremony has a utilitarian function: traditional burial is practically impossible due to the stony Tibetan plateau, and cremation is not feasible due to a lack of wood. In essence, it’s the most direct method of restoring the body to nature.
Famadihana
In Madagascar, some communities practice ‘Famadihana’ or the ‘turning of the bones.’ Every five to seven years, families exhume their ancestors’ remains, rewrap them in fresh silk shrouds, and dance with the bodies to live music.
This joyful celebration is believed to help the spirits of the ancestors join the realm of the dead completely. The dancing and festivities can last for days, creating a unique blend of mourning and celebration.
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Hanging Coffins
The Bo people of southern China and the Igorot tribe of the Philippines suspend coffins from cliff faces or place them in caves high above the ground. This practice was meant to place the deceased closer to heaven and protect bodies from animals and floods.
Some of these hanging coffins date back 3,000 years and still cling to precipitous cliffs today, creating eerily beautiful monuments that defy both gravity and time.
Fantasy Coffins
In Ghana, the Ga people create elaborate custom coffins that represent the deceased’s occupation, status, or something they loved in life. A fisherman might be buried in a giant wooden fish, while a pilot could have an airplane-shaped coffin.
These vibrant, artistic caskets can cost up to a year’s salary and transform a somber funeral into a celebration of individuality. They’re like one final, flamboyant expression of personal identity.
Sati
This now-outlawed historical practice from India involved a widow throwing herself onto her husband’s funeral pyre to be cremated alongside him. Sati was considered the ultimate act of wifely devotion in certain communities, though historical records suggest it was often coerced rather than voluntary.
The British colonial government banned the practice in 1829, though rare isolated incidents continued to be reported into the 20th century.
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Tower of Silence
Zoroastrians in India and Iran traditionally place their dead in circular structures called Towers of Silence (dakhmas) where vultures consume the remains. Similar to sky burials, this practice stems from the belief that dead bodies would contaminate the sacred elements of earth, fire, and water if buried or cremated.
Modern environmental regulations and declining vulture populations have made this practice increasingly rare, forcing adaptations like solar concentrators to accelerate decomposition.
Endocannibalism
Several cultures across history have practiced ritual endocannibalism—consuming the ashes or flesh of deceased community members. The Yanomami of the Amazon mixed the cremated remains of the deceased with plantain soup and consumed it as a way to keep the spirit of the loved one within the community.
Rather than seeming macabre to practitioners, this ritual represented the ultimate form of respect and a way to physically incorporate the virtues of the deceased.
Turned to Coral
A modern alternative burial method involves mixing cremated remains with environmentally friendly cement to create artificial reef balls. These structures are then placed in the ocean to form new marine habitats.
For people who love the sea, becoming part of a living reef offers a meaningful legacy that continues long after death. Each reef ball can support diverse marine life for hundreds of years, making it both an ecological contribution and a unique memorial.
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Buried With Possessions
Ancient Egyptian pharaohs were entombed with everything they might need in the afterlife—from furniture to food, jewelry, and even servants (unfortunately sacrificed for this purpose). This practice reflects their belief in a direct continuation between this life and the next.
Modern archaeologists have recovered extraordinarily well-preserved artifacts from these tombs, providing remarkable insights into ancient Egyptian life and their elaborate conception of the afterlife.
Self-Mummification
Some Japanese Buddhist monks practiced a gruesome form of self-mummification called Sokushinbutsu. Over a decade, they would follow a special diet of nuts and seeds, then tree bark and lacquer tea, gradually starving themselves while minimizing body fat and killing internal bacteria.
Eventually, they would seal themselves in a stone tomb while still alive, ringing a bell until they died. The resulting mummies were revered as evidence of extraordinary spiritual achievement.
Widow Finger Amputation
Among the Dani tribe of Papua New Guinea, when a male family member died, women related to him would have portions of their fingers amputated as a sign of grief and to satisfy ancestral ghosts. The practice also symbolized the pain of loss through physical suffering.
Though this ritual has mostly died out due to outside influence, older women in the tribe can still be seen with shortened fingers, each one representing a loved one who has passed away.
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Fire Burial
Vikings sent their chieftains to Valhalla by placing them on ships with their possessions, setting the vessels ablaze, and pushing them out to sea. These dramatic funeral pyres honored warriors by literally sending them on a final voyage.
Archaeological evidence suggests that complete ship burials were reserved for the most elite members of society, and the spectacle of a burning ship sailing into the horizon must have created an unforgettable farewell.
Ash Diamonds
In a modern twist on cremation, some companies now offer to compress cremated remains under high pressure and temperature to create diamonds. These ‘memorial diamonds’ can be set in jewelry, allowing loved ones to keep the deceased close in a very literal sense.
The color of these gems varies based on the chemical composition of the ashes, with blue diamonds being most common due to the trace boron found in human remains.
Skull Cleaning
The Dayak people of Borneo traditionally exhumed bodies after decomposition to clean, paint, and display the skull. Family members would ceremonially clean the bones and decorate the skull before placing it in a special ornate box.
The Dayak believed that properly treated skulls would protect living family members and bring good fortune to the household. Some families kept their ancestral skulls for many generations, creating a physical connection to their lineage.
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Air Burial
The Parsi community, followers of Zoroastrianism in India, traditionally placed their dead in circular structures called dakhmas, or ‘towers of silence.’ Bodies were arranged in concentric circles—men on the outer ring, women in the middle, and children in the innermost circle—to be consumed by vultures.
Bones would later fall through special filters and ultimately into a central well. This practice is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain as vulture populations in India have declined dramatically due to environmental factors.
The Legacy Continues
Burial customs reveal much more than how different cultures dispose of remains—they showcase our universal struggle to find meaning in mortality and our diverse approaches to honoring those we’ve lost. These practices, however unusual they might seem to outsiders, represent deeply thoughtful responses to death’s universal challenge.
Whether returning to the elements through sky burial or transforming into a coral reef, each ritual offers its own form of continuity and remembrance that transcends physical existence.
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