10 Bizarre Funeral Rituals in the World
Around the world, different cultures have unique ways of mourning and demonstrating affection to the deceased.

Number 10: Indonesia, The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses.
The Toraja tribe who inhabits the mountainous region of South Sulawesi has a tradition called Ma'Nene or the Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses where the bodies of the deceased are dug up to be washed, groomed, and given a make-over. Damaged caskets are also repaired or replaced.

The corpses are then dragged from where they have died and then back to the village, always following a path of straight lines, and then they are placed back into a coffin.

Number 9: Ghana, Fantasy Coffins.
Among the Ga people of Ghana, death is not the end and that life continues in the next world in the same way at it did on earth. They also believe that deceased ancestors are powerful than the living and are able to influence the relatives who are still alive.

To gain merits from their deceased loved ones, the families will do everything they can to provide the best coffin consistent with the deceased person's profession or status. If the deceased is a pilot, his coffin will be a custom made airplane.

Number 8: Tibet, Sky Burial.
In Tibet, as well as in Mongolia, Bhutan, Nepal, and certain parts of India, there is a burial practice called excarnation where the deceased is placed on a mountaintop to decompose or to be eaten by scavenging animals, especially carrion birds. When the organs and the flesh of the deceased has been discarded, the bones and skeletons are smashed into pieces and mixed with barley flour to feed the vultures.

Number 7: Papua, Indonesia, Finger Cutting.
The Dani people of Papua, Indonesia, mourn the passing of their loved ones by coating their faces with mud and ash, and by amputating a segment of the finger to symbolize the loss of relatives. The amputation ritual, mostly carried out by the women, is also believed to appease the spirit of the departed.

Number 6: China, Professional Mourners.
One of the ways that Chinese people honor the dead is to hire professional mourners to help wail for the family in their sorrow. For around $600 the family can hire seven women who will chant, cry, shout, and collapse on the floor.

Number 5: Japan, Self-Mummification.
They are referred to as “Buddhas in the flesh.” They are practitioners of Shingon Buddhism who have successfully carried the gruesome and excruciating practice of self-mummification as a sign of transcendence and spiritual transformation.

Self-mummification is a process that can be completed between the span of 3,000 days to 10 years. The first step involves a strict diet that eliminate all body fat, and the consumption of certain herbs and toxic cycad nuts known to inhibit bacterial growth. The second step requires the monk to step into a tiny burial chamber provided with a small opening to allow air inside. Everyday the monk rings a bell to signify that he is still alive. Once the bell stops, the chamber will be sealed. After three years, it will be reopened again to see if the attempt at self-mummification was successfully carried out.

Number 4: India, Sati.
Sati is the practice among some Hindu communities by which a recently widowed woman either voluntarily or by use of force or coercion commits suicide as a result of her husband's death. The best known form of sati is when a woman burns to death on her husband's funeral pyre. Other forms of sati exist, including being buried alive with the husband's corpse and drowning.

Number 3: India, Santhara or Fasting to death.
In Jainism, Santhara is part of an ethical code of conduct where a Jain ascetic is allowed to gradually reduce food and liquid intake when normal life is no longer possible due to old age, incurable disease, or when a person is nearing his end.

Number 2: Philippines, Ifugao's Skinning of the Dead.
When a member of an Ifugao tribe dies, male relatives will build a chair used to prop up the deceased. Then the body is washed, blindfolded, set up near the front door to the house for a period of up to eight days.

On the fourth day of the mourning period, the body is remove from the chair, and the skin is peeled off. The skin is then buried underneath the house of the deceased. Ifugao members believe that this practice helps with fertility.

Number 1: Taiwan, Funeral Strippers.
In Taiwan, the practice of hiring young women to sing, dance, and remove clothes at a funeral is one way of celebrating the life of the deceased and also to attract mourners.

Another purpose of the strippers is to "appease wandering spirits" as well as give the deceased "one last hurrah". What happens in a performance can vary considerably, and may include climbing poles, sound systems, professional musicians, electric "flower carts", neon-lit stages, fireworks and gas-driven fire flames.

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