ARYANS AND CREMATION

Cremation is mostly in Hindus who are Aryans. The word Hindu is not the correct word because they are originally Aryans. In Vedas, Rahayan and Mahabharat the word Arya is used for Aryans and not Hindus.

How did the word Hindu came ? :

The word Hindu is derived from the Sanskrit word Sindhu which is the local name for the Indus River that flows through the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent. Sindhu also means sea. The word Hindu or Indu was used by Greeks to denote the country and people living beyond the Indus river. Megasthenes' 'Indica' epitomizes the name for India and Indians around the 4th Century B.C.E. This word was misunderstood to be coined by Arabs, by medieval and some modern Indian Historians. But this was only an extention of the name used by the Greeks. The Arabic term al-Hind, referred to the land of the people who live across the river Indus. By the 13th century, the word Hindustan began to be used as a popular alternative name for India, meaning the "land of Hindus". Towards the end of the 18th century, the European merchants and colonists referred collectively to the followers of the Dharmic religions in Hindustan — which geographically referred to most parts of the northern Indian subcontinent — as Hindus. Eventually, any person of Indian origin who did not practice Abrahamic religions came to be known as a Hindu, thereby encompassing a wide range of religious beliefs and practices.

The word Hinduism was soon adopted by the Hindus themselves, as a term that encompassed their national, social and cultural identity.

The original word for the now-so-called Hindus is Sanatan and Arya. The word Hindu is believed to not appear in the Hindu scriptures, viz, Vedas, Upanishads, and Puranas. The contemporary Hindus are believers of and accept the authority of the said scriptures, hence, they are more accurately identified as Sanatanis or Aryans. Another word which is more accurate than Hindu, is Bhaaratiya. People of India are believed to be the descendants of King Bharat. From his name comes the original name of India, Bhaarat, and, those residing in Bhaarat (India) are Bhaaratiya.

Cremation :

Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning (combustion).

Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to the burial or interment of an intact dead body. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre is an ancient tradition. Starting in the 19th century, cremation was introduced or reintroduced into other parts of the world. In modern times, cremation is commonly carried out with a closed furnace (cremator), at a crematorium.

Cremation leaves behind an average of 2.4kg of remains, known as "ashes" or "cremains". This is not actual ash but unburnt fragments of bone mineral, which are commonly ground down into powder. They do not constitute a health risk and may be buried, interred in a memorial site, retained by relatives or scattered in various ways.

History :

Cremation dates from at least 17,000 years ago in the archaeological record, with the Mungo Lady, the remains of a partly cremated body found at Lake Mungo, Australia.

Alternative death rituals emphasizing one method of disposal of a body—inhumation (burial), cremation, or exposure—have gone through periods of preference throughout history.

In the Middle East and Europe, both burial and cremation are evident in the archaeological record in the Neolithic era. Cultural groups had their own preferences and prohibitions. The ancient Egyptians developed an intricate transmigration-of-soul theology, which prohibited cremation. This was also widely adopted by Semitic peoples. The Babylonians, according to Herodotus, embalmed their dead. Early Persians practiced cremation, but this became prohibited during the Zoroastrian Period. Phoenicians practiced both cremation and burial. From the Cycladic civilisation in 3000 BCE until the Sub-Mycenaean era in 1200–1100 BCE, Greeks practiced inhumation. Cremation appeared around the 12th century BCE, constituting a new practice of burial, probably influenced by Anatolia. Until the Christian era, when inhumation again became the only burial practice, both combustion and inhumation had been practiced, depending on the era and location. Romans practiced both, with cremation generally associated with military honors.

In Europe, there are traces of cremation dating to the Early Bronze Age (c. 2000 BCE) in the Pannonian Plain and along the middle Danube. The custom became dominant throughout Bronze Age Europe with the Urnfield culture (from c. 1300 BCE). In the Iron Age, inhumation again becomes more common, but cremation persisted in the Villanovan culture and elsewhere. Homer's account of Patroclus' burial describes cremation with subsequent burial in a tumulus, similar to Urnfield burials, and qualifying as the earliest description of cremation rites. This may be an anachronism, as during Mycenaean times burial was generally preferred, and Homer may have been reflecting the more common use of cremation at the time the Iliad was written, centuries later.

Hinduism and Jainism are notable for not only allowing but prescribing cremation. Cremation in Bharat (India) is first attested in the Cemetery culture, considered the formative stage of Vedic civilization which is approx. 7000 years old (5,000 BCE or earlier). The Rigveda contains a reference to the emerging practice, in RV 10.15.14, where the forefathers "both cremated (agnidagdhá-) and uncremated (ánagnidagdha-)" are invoked.

Cremation remained common but not universal, in both ancient Greece and ancient Rome. According to Cicero, in Rome, inhumation was considered the more archaic rite, while the most honoured citizens were most typically cremated—especially upper classes and members of imperial families.

The rise of Christianity saw an end to cremation, being influenced by its roots in Judaism, the belief in the resurrection of the body, and following the example of Christ's burial. Anthropologists have been able to track the advance of Christianity throughout Europe with the appearance of cemeteries. By the 5th century, with the spread of Christianity, the practice of burning bodies gradually disappeared from Europe.

In early Roman Britain, cremation was usual but diminished by the 4th century. It then reappeared in the 5th and 6th centuries during the migration era, when sacrificed animals were sometimes included with the human bodies on the pyre, and the deceased were dressed in costume and with ornaments for the burning. That custom was also very widespread among the Germanic peoples of the northern continental lands from which the Anglo-Saxon migrants are supposed to have been derived, during the same period. These ashes were usually thereafter deposited in a vessel of clay or bronze in an "urn cemetery". The custom again died out with the Christian conversion of the Anglo-Saxons or Early English during the 7th century, when Christian burial became general.

Middle Ages :

In parts of Europe, cremation was forbidden by law, and even punishable by death if combined with Heathen rites. Cremation was sometimes used by Catholic authorities as part of punishment for Protestant heretics, which included burning at the stake. For example, the body of John Wycliff was exhumed years after his death and burned to ashes, with the ashes thrown in a river, explicitly as a posthumous punishment for his denial of the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.

The first to advocate for the use of cremation was the physician Sir Thomas Browne in 1658. Honoretta Brooks Pratt became the first recorded cremated European individual in modern times when she died on 26 September 1769 and was illegally cremated at the burial ground on Hanover Square in London.

Different religions and Cremation :

Indian religions :

Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism practice cremation. The founder of Buddhism, Shakyamuni Buddha, was cremated. For Buddhist spiritual masters who are cremated, one of the results of cremation is the formation of Buddhist relics.

Hinduism :

Antyesti literally means "last sacrifice", and refers to the funeral rites for the dead in Hinduism, which usually involve cremation of the body. This rite of passage is the last sanskar in a series of traditional life cycle sanskars that start from conception in Hindu tradition. It is also referred to as Antim Sanskar, Antya-kriya, Anvarohanyya, or as Vahni Sanskar.

The details of the Antyesti ceremony depends on the region, caste, gender and age of the dead.

A dead adult Hindu is mourned with a cremation, while a dead child is typically buried. 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. The soul (Atman, Brahman) is the essence and immortal that is released at the Antyeshti ritual, but both the body and the universe are vehicles and transitory in various schools of Hinduism. They consist of five elements – air, water, fire, earth and space. The last rite of passage returns the body to the five elements and origins. The roots of this belief are found in the Vedas, for example in the hymns of Rigveda in section 10.16, as follows :

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, breathe); 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.

The final rite in the case of untimely death of a child is usually not cremation but a burial. This is rooted in Rig Veda's section 10.18, where the hymns mourn the death of the child, praying to deity Mrityu to "neither harm our girls nor our boys", and pleads the earth to cover, protect the deceased child as a soft wool.

Ashes of the cremated bodies are usually spread in a river, which are considered holy in the Hindu practice. Ganga is considered to be the holiest river and Varanasi, which is on the banks of river Ganga the holiest place to be cremated at.

Saints and Small Children's are buried in Hinduism :

Saints :

According to the Ancient Hindu tradition, there are four phases of human life, also called as Ashrams. They are Brahmacharya (bachelor student), Grihasth (After marriage with family), Vaanprasth (Retirement after completing his household responsibilities), and Sanyas in the later part of their life.

There is no rule that a person has to follow through this cycle to attain Sanyas. Great souls who renounce worldly pleasures can attain Sanyas in brahmacharya phase itself to dedicate the rest of their lives towards spiritual advancement.

The greatest example of true Sanyasi is Jagadguru Adi Sankaracharya, who attained sanyas at the age of 8 years.

There are some duties and responsibilities for leading a life of Sanyasi. They will attain Sanyas when they are detached from all worldly pleasures and they have to live a simple life and typically detached from all relational and emotional attachments. After his death i.e., the sanyasi leaves this physical body, he is believed to attain immortality through kapal moksh (pran coming out of brahmarandhra). Their mortal remains are buried in the soil.

Why are Sanyasis buried :

It is Hindu tradition to cremate their dead to release the soul of the deceased. It is believed that the Agni sanskar, will help the departed soul to relinquish attachments on this physical body without hovering and continue his upward journey towards heaven. The rituals performed during the cremation and afterward help the soul to severe ties with earthly life.

According to Hinduism a Sanyasi has already relinquished all his earthly ties and lost attachments on this physical body. So he need not be cremated to achieve the moksh. After the burial, a Brindavan (Tulsi plant) is grown over the site.

As per the rules of the Sampraday, many Sanyasis are buried, but not the way of other religions. A pit 10 * 10 * 10 (enough big so that 2/3 persons can go down holding the body). Darbhs are spread at the base, body is kept in sitting position and pit is filled with auspicious substances like panchamrit, flowers, scented oils, etc.

Scriptures related to burying of Sanyasis :

Hindus traditionally cremate their dead because a fiery dissolution of the body brings swifter, more complete release of the soul than burial, which preserves the soul's psychic connection to its just-ended earthly life. After death, the departed soul hovers close to the earth plane in its astral body, emotionally attached to the physical body and its old surroundings, still able to see this material world. The funeral rites and burning of the body signify spiritual release, notifying the soul that, in fact, death has come. Some of the funeral chants address the deceased, urging the soul to relinquish attachments and continue its spiritual journey. The Gods and devas are invoked to assist the soul in its transition. The fire severs ties to earthly life and gives momentum to the soul, granting at least momentary access to refined, heavenly realms.

All attention is on a singular goal, as expressed in this prayer from the Rig Ved :

"Release him again, O Agni, to the fathers. The one offered to you now proceeds to his destiny. Putting on new life, let him approach the surviving, let him reunite with a [new] body, All-Knowing One!" (10. 16. 5).

So a person is cremated for his soul to achieve after death what a sannyasi has already achieved before death.

The sannyasin has no sacrament involving the sacred fire: he has the fire of knowledge (jnanagni) in him. His body is not cremated - that is there is no Agni-samskar for it- but interred as a matter of respect. Strictly speaking, it must be cut into four parts and consigned to the four quarters of a forest. There it will be food for birds and beasts. In an inhabited place the severed parts of the body would cause inconvenience to people. That is why they were thrown into the forest. There it would be food for its denizens; if buried it would be manure for the plants. Now over the site of the interment of a sannyasin's body a Brindavana is grown [or built] : this again is done out of respect. At such sites all that is to be done is to plant a bilva or asvattha tree.

When the Yogi separates himself from the physical body at the time of death, Brahmarandhra bursts open and Prana comes out through this opening (Kapal Moksh). “A hundred and one are the nerves of the heart. Of them one (Sushumna) has gone out piercing the head; going up through it, one attains immortality” (Kathopanishad).

To attain this or symbolically yogis and sanyasins after death are placed in yoga posture. Sometimes kapal moksh is made by throwing a coconut on the head. Then the mortal body is buried.

Brahmarandhra : When the Yogi separates himself from the physical body at the time of death, this Brahmarandhra bursts open and Prana comes out through this opening (Kapala Moksha). “A hundred and one are the nerves of the heart. Of them one (Sushumna) has gone out piercing the head; going up through it, one attains immortality” (Kathopanishad).

For the Sannyasis, there is an explanation given in the so-called Sannyasa Upanishads, which are all minor Upanishads.

I am quoting from the Paingala Upanishad that is linked with the Shukla Yajurved :

He gives up his body whether in a sacred place, or in a chandal's (outcaste's) house (without any distinction whatever), and attains salvation. Such a body (when seen by a person) should be offered as a sacrifice to dik (the quarters) or should be buried (underground). It is only to Purush (the wise) that sannyas (renunciation) is ordained and not to others. In case of the death of an ascetic who is of the form (or has attained the nature) of Brahman, there is no pollution (to be observed) ; neither the ceremonies of fire (as burning the body, hom, eta); nor the pind (balls of rice), nor ceremonies of water, nor the periodical ceremonies (monthly and yearly). Just as a food once cooked is not again cooked, so a body once burnt (by the fire of wisdom) should not be burnt (or exposed to fire) again.

To one whose body was burnt by the fire of wisdom there is neither sraddh (required to be performed), nor (funeral) ceremony.

From the Upanishad's 4th Adhyai.

So, food once cooked is not to be cooked again is the logic being provided.

Another relevant verse from another Sannyasa Upanishad :

Triple staff, sacrificial string, loincloth, sling, and water strainer: these he should carry all his life. These are the five articles of a renouncer. They are declared to be the five parts of Brahman.5 Let him not abandon them until death. Even at death he should be buried with them.

Initiation and Last Rites of a Sanyasi :

Vamdev requested Kartikey to enlighten his mind with that knowledge, without which a Sanyasi can never attain liberation.

Kartikey then told him about the methods how a Sanyasi should get initiation from his guru. A disciple should worship his guru in any of the following months - Shravan, Ashwin, Kartik, Agahan and Magh. He should then establish a Kalash and worship it. He should again worship his guru considering him as the form of Lord Shiv.

The guru should then initiate him with the Shiv mantra. After getting the Mantra, the disciple should chant it considering himself as Shiv - Shivoaham. After this the disciple should get his head tonsured. The barber who is supposed to shave off the hairs should be given pure clothes to wear. The barber should also wash his hands with mud and water. The instruments and apparatus, which he is supposed to use, should be made pure by the 'Astra' mantras.

First of all the front portion of the head should be shaved off after that the back portion of the head should be shaved off. The disciple should then get his beards and moustache shaved off. After this the disciple should massage his body with mud and take bath by taking twelve dips in a pond. After taking his bath he should worship his Guru and meditate on Lord Shiv.

Kartikey told Sage Vamdev that an ascetic does not die but takes a Samadhi, therefore instead of being cremated he is buried. Therefore an ascetic must practice the art of Samadhi to perfection. If he has not yet perfected the art of Samadhi, then he should keep on practicing yog till he attains mastery over the art of Samadhi. He should try to concentrate his mind on the Omkar mantra, which is eternal. If his body has become weak and feeble and incapable of doing physical exercises like Pranayam then he should indulge himself in Shiv remembrance. This way an ascetic can attain to heaven. After his death the rest of the ascetics should perform the rituals at his place of death for ten days.

An altar should be constructed on the eleventh day. Five quadrangular mandals should be made facing towards the northern direction. In each of these mandas, deities like Deveshwari, Atiwahak etc. should be established first and then worshipped. The worship should be done as per the instruction of Guru by offering 'Prasad'. This Prasad should be, given to a virgin girl or cow, later on. The articles used in the process of worship should be immersed in the river or pond. In this way, the Parvan shradh ceremony of the deceased ascetic is accomplished. It is worth nothing that 'Ekodisht' Shradh is not performed after an ascetic death.

After the completion of 'Parvan Shradh' the ascetic should perform the Ekadashah Shradh as per the instructions of their Guru. On the twelfth day, the ascetics should invite the brahmins, after getting up in the morning and taking their bath. These brahmins should be feeded.

The ascetics should then take a vow to worship their Guru by holding a 'Kush' grass in their hands. After that, they should wash the lotus feet's of their Guru and worship him. Even the worship of Guru's teacher should be done.

After the worship is over, the Guru should get up by saying 'Shubhamastu'- benediction to all. He should then sprinkle the purified rice by chanting mantras. At last donations should be made to the invited brahmins.

Children's :

Children, on the other hand, are buried as the soul has not stayed in the body long enough to develop any attachment.

Cremation is the norm in Hinduism to dispose of the dead body. However, this norm does not apply to children. The bodies of young children who die within a year from the date of their birth are usually buried rather than cremated. In some instances they are consigned to rivers. In other words their bodies are offered to water or the earth, rather than fire. It is because the subtle bodies of children remain underdeveloped and hence unfit for fire sacrifice.

The final rites of a burial, in case of untimely death of a child, is rooted in Rig Veda's section 10.18, where the hymns mourn the death of the child, praying to deity Mrityu to "neither harm our girls nor our boys", and pleads the earth to cover, protect the deceased child as a soft wool.

Betake thee to the Iap of Earth the Mother, of Earth far-spreading, very kind and gracious. Young Dame, wool-soft unto the guerdon giver, may she preserve thee from Destruction's bosom.

Satyayaniya Upanishad

As regards, the children, then we find the scriptural injunctions, but i don't think we can find the reasons as well :

Immediate is [the purification, on the death of a child] who has not teethed; [and impurity extends over] one night, before the ceremony of tonsure (Chuddkaranam) [is performed within two years]; and three nights, before the investiture with the sacred thread (Upanayanam]; and ten nights, afterwards.

Usana Smriti verses

When a child dies before it is 3 years old or before teething, no offerings of food or water are prescribed, and it should not be cremated.

Baudhayana Dharma Sutras 1.11.7

So, IMO impurities do not result from a child's death depending on whether it had teethed or not and also on few other factors.

Christianity :

In Christian countries and cultures, cremation has historically been discouraged, but now in many denominations it is accepted.

Catholicism :

Christians preferred to bury the dead rather than to cremate the remains, as was common in Roman culture. The Roman catacombs and veneration of relics of saints witness to this preference. For them, the body was not a mere receptacle for a spirit that was the real person, but an integral part of the human person. They looked on the body as sanctified by the sacraments and itself the temple of the Holy Spirit, and thus requiring to be disposed of in a way that honours and reveres it, and they saw many early practices involved with disposal of dead bodies as pagan in origin or an insult to the body.

The idea that cremation might interfere with God's ability to resurrect the body was refuted as early as the 2nd-century Octavius of Minucius Felix, in which he said: "Every body, whether it is dried up into dust, or is dissolved into moisture, or is compressed into ashes, or is attenuated into smoke, is withdrawn from us, but it is reserved for God in the custody of the elements. Nor, as you believe, do we fear any loss from sepulture, but we adopt the ancient and better custom of burying in the earth." And while there was a clear preference for burial, there was no general Church law forbidding cremation until 1866. Even in Medieval Europe, cremation was practiced in situations where there were multitudes of corpses simultaneously present, such as after a battle, after a pestilence or famine, and where there was an imminent fear of diseases spreading from the corpses, since individual burials with digging graves would take too long and body decomposition would begin before all the corpses had been interred.

Beginning in the Middle Ages, and even more so in the 18th century and later, rationalists and classicists began to advocate cremation again as a statement denying the resurrection and/or the afterlife, although the pro-cremation movement more often than not took care to address and refute theological concerns about cremation in their works. Sentiment within the Catholic Church against cremation became hardened in the face of the association of cremation with "professed enemies of God." When some Masonic groups advocated cremation as a means of rejecting Christian belief in the resurrection, the Holy See forbade Catholics to practise cremation in 1886. The 1917 Code of Canon Law incorporated this ban, but in 1963, recognizing that, in general, cremation was being sought for practical purposes and not as a denial of bodily resurrection, the choice of cremation was permitted in many circumstances. The current 1983 Code of Canon Law, states: "The Church earnestly recommends the pious custom of burial be retained; but it does not forbid cremation, unless this is chosen for reasons which are contrary to Christian teaching."

There are no universal rules governing Catholic funeral rites in connection with cremation, but episcopal conferences have laid down rules for various countries. Of these, perhaps the most elaborate are those established, with the necessary confirmation of the Holy See, by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and published as Appendix II of the United States edition of the Order of Christian Funerals.

Although the Holy See has in some cases authorized bishops to grant permission for funeral rites to be carried out in the presence of cremated remains, it is preferred that the rites be carried out before cremation, in the presence of the still intact body. Practices that show insufficient respect for the ashes of the dead such as turning them into jewelry or scattering them are forbidden for Catholics.

Anglicanism and Lutheranism :

In 1917, Volume 6 of the American Lutheran Survey stated that "The Lutheran clergy as a rule refuse" and that "Episcopal pastors often take a stand against it." Indeed, in the 1870s, the Anglican Bishop of London stated that the practice of cremation would "undermine the faith of mankind in the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, and so bring about a most disastrous social revolution." In The Lutheran Pastor, George Henry Gerberding stated :

Third. As to cremation. This is not a Biblical or Christian mode of disposing of the dead. The Old and New Testament agree and take for granted that as the body was taken originally from the earth, so it is to return to the earth again. Burial is the natural and Christian mode. There is a beautiful symbolism in it. The whole terminology of eschatology presupposes it. Cremation is purely heathenish. It was the practice among the Greeks and Romans. The mass of the Hindoos thus dispose of their dead. It is dishonoring to the body, intended for a temple of the Holy Ghost and to bear the image of God. It is an insidious denial of the doctrine of the resurrection.

However, Protestant churches welcomed the use of cremation at a much earlier date than the Catholic Church; pro-cremation sentiment was not unanimous among Protestants, however. The first crematoria in the Protestant countries were built in the 1870s, and in 1908, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey—one of the most famous Anglican churches—required that remains be cremated for burial in the abbey's precincts. Today, "scattering", or "strewing," is an acceptable practice in many Protestant denominations, and some churches have their own "garden of remembrance" on their grounds in which remains can be scattered. Other groups also support cremation. Some denominations, like Lutheran churches in Scandinavia, favour the urns being buried in family graves. A family grave can contain urns of many generations and also the urns of spouses and loved ones.

Methodism :

An early Methodist tract titled Immortality and Resurrection noted that "burial is the result of a belief in the resurrection of the body, while cremation anticipates its annihilation." The Methodist Review noted that "Three thoughts alone would lead us to suppose that the early Christians would have special care for their dead, namely, the essential Jewish origin of the Church; the mode of burial of their founder; and the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, so powerfully urged by the apostles, and so mighty in its influence on the primitive Christians. From these considerations, the Roman custom of cremation would be most repulsive to the Christian mind."

Eastern Orthodox and others who forbid cremation :

On the other hand, some branches of Christianity oppose cremation, including some minority Protestant groups and Orthodox. Most notably, the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches forbid cremation, as a custom, but not dogmatically. Exceptions are made for circumstances where it may not be avoided (when civil authority demands it, or epidemics) or if it may be sought for good cause,[clarification needed] but when a cremation is willfully chosen for no good cause by the one who is deceased, he or she is not permitted a funeral in the church and may also be permanently excluded from liturgical prayers for the departed. In Orthodoxy, cremation is perceived by some a rejection of the dogma of the general resurrection.

The Church of God (Restoration) also forbids the practice of cremation, believing it to be a pagan practice.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints :

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has, in past decades, discouraged cremation without expressly forbidding it. In the 1950s, for example, Apostle Bruce R. McConkie wrote that "only under the most extraordinary and unusual circumstances" would cremation be consistent with LDS teachings.

However, more recent LDS publications have provided instructions for how to dress the deceased when they have received their temple endowments (and thus wear temple garments) prior to cremation for those wishing to do so, or in countries where the law requires cremation. Except where required by law, the family of the deceased may decide whether the body should be cremated, though the Church "does not normally encourage cremation."

Bali, Indonesia :

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-Javanese Calendar system ("Saka"). Additionally, if the departed was a court servant, member of the court or minor 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 decay process to consume the fluids of the corpse, which allows for an easier, more rapid and more complete cremation.

Islam :

Islam strictly forbids cremation. Islam has specific rites for the treatment of the body after death.

Judaism :

Judaism traditionally disapproved of cremation in the past (it was the traditional means of disposing the dead in the neighboring Bronze Age cultures). It has also disapproved of preservation of the dead by means of embalming and mummifying, a practice of the ancient Egyptians.

Through history and up to the philosophical movements of the current era Modern Orthodox, Orthodox, Haredi, and Hasidic movements in Judaism have maintained a strict biblical line against cremation, and disapprove of it as Halakha (Jewish law) forbids it. This halakhic concern is grounded in the upholding of bodily resurrection as a core belief of traditional Judaism, as opposed to other ancient trends such as the Sadduccees, who denied it as well as the clear wording of the Torah in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 21:23 "Bury, you will bury him the same day; for the (unburied body) is a curse to God" with both a positive command derived from this verse to command one to bury a dead body and a negative command forbidding neglecting to bury a dead body. Some from the generally liberal Conservative Jewish also oppose cremation, some very strongly.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, as the Jewish cemeteries in many European towns had become crowded and were running out of space, in a few cases cremation for the first time became an approved means of corpse disposal among the emerging liberal and Reform Jewish movements in line with their across the board rejection of traditional Torah ritual laws having mandatory standing. Current liberal movements like Reform Judaism still support cremation, although burial remains the preferred option.

In Israel, where religious ritual events including free burial and funeral services for all who die in Israel and all citizens including the majority Jewish population including for the secular or non-observant are almost universally facilitated through the Rabinate of Israel which is an Orthodox organization following traditional Jewish law, there were no formal crematories until 2004 when B&L Cremation Systems Inc. became the first crematory manufacturer to sell a retort to Israel. In August 2007, an orthodox youth group in Israel was accused of burning down the country's sole crematorium. The crematorium was rebuilt within weeks by its owner Aley Shalechet and the retort replaced. Since that incident, cremation has taken place in Israel without interruption.

Other :

Baha'i :

The Baha'i Faith forbids cremation, "He feels that, in view of what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has said against cremation, the believers should be strongly urged, as an act of faith, to make provisions against their remains being cremated. Bahá’u’lláh has laid down as a law, in the Aqdas, the manner of Bahá’í burial, and it is so beautiful, befitting and dignified, that no believer should deprive himself of it."

Zoroastrianism :

Traditionally, Zoroastrianism disavows cremation or burial to preclude pollution of fire or earth. The traditional method of corpse disposal is through ritual exposure in a "Tower of Silence", but both burial and cremation are increasingly popular alternatives. Some contemporary adhererents of the faith have opted for cremation. Parsi-Zoroastrian singer Freddie Mercury of the group Queen was cremated after his death.

China :

Neo-Confucianism under Zhu Xi strongly discourages cremation of one's parents' corpses as unfilial. Han Chinese traditionally practiced burial and viewed cremation as taboo and as a barbarian practice.

Traditionally, only Buddhist monks in China exclusively practiced cremation because ordinary Han Chinese detested cremation, refusing to do it. But now, the atheist Communist party enforces a strict cremation policy on Han Chinese. However, exceptions are made for Hui who do not cremate their dead due to Islamic beliefs.

The minority Jurchen and their Manchu descendants originally practiced cremation as part of their culture. They adopted the practice of burial from the Han, but many Manchus continued to cremate their dead.