Tamil funerals - Pay tribute to the deceased, the South Indian way

The life cycle cannot be possibly ignored when we consider the fact about reaching death at some point of time. This is followed by the customary funeral process according to rituals relevant for different sects of Hinduism. Quite similarly, the Tamil funerals too have a set ritual which is followed religiously by the God fearing South Indian community. However, sometimes such ceremonies become quite confusing. The funeral is a process which marks the passage of the persons soul from the present status to some other. The Tamilian culture starts even before the person comes to life, and is extended way past his or her death. Before getting into the customs and rites, let us begin from the visitors and mourners. You will often wonder how many of them are ignorant of wearing

traditionally accepted colours to the funeral process. The customary colour which is universally accepted by Hindus is white. People somehow fail to follow this tradition. The Tamils require their people to refrain from saying that some person is no more, or is dead. Instead of this, they say that he or she has reached Lord Shivas world. The deceased has attained a permanent place in heaven, or has been sent to the world of dead. Tamils usually bury or cremate the deceased, with the procedure of burial being mostly followed among the lower castes. The bodies of the dead are first prepared for the process of funeral by washing, perfuming and dressing them in some new clothing. This is done immediately once the death has occurred. Post cremation, the ashes from the remnants of the body are collected and disposed in water. Usually the Tamil funerals are looked after by funeral directors in countries outside India. This is a common practice for all Hindu sects, such as the Jains have their own Jain funeral directors who aid the process. All said and done, funerals are tributes to the deceased, and every religion follows the process diligently.