Tibetan Sky Burial

In the high mountains of Tibet, where trees don't grow, natural resources scarce, and the land is harsh, Tibetan Buddhists do not bury their dead, nor waste precious resources cremating the body. From dust to dust, flesh to flesh, nothing is wasted. Human body flesh makes precious food for the vultures. Tibetan Buddhists feed their dead to the vultures. This is good karma.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

At over 4,000 meters, Dho
Tarap is one of the highest

communities on Earth.

[BELLS TOLLING]

Buddhists live here in
almost complete isolation.

And when someone dies at this
altitude, dealing with the corpse

is a real challenge.

Last night, there was
a death in the village.

70-year-old Nombe-la passed
away, and now his family

are preparing his body
for a Buddhist funeral.

[CHANTING]

The man in charge of this
funeral is Holy Lama Namgyal.

[SPEAKING TIBETAN]

[BELL TINKLING]

Lama Namgyal needs to
hold the funeral soon

because Nombe-la's corpse could
attract predators and spread

disease.

But when you live at the roof of
the world, your options are limited.

Buddhists don't bury their dead.

[CLOPPING]

And at this altitude
no trees grow, so there

is no wood for a cremation.

The solution is a sacred
ritual older than Buddhism

itself, a sky burial.

[SPEAKING TIBETAN]

To conduct the sky burial
ritual, Lama Namgyal

needs the help of a specialist.

[BAAING]

[SPEAKING TIBETAN]

Bharmay Furba is the undertaker.

As a non-Buddhist,
he is the only one

who is allowed to carry out
this most difficult task.

[SPEAKING TIBETAN]

[CHANTING]

[DRUMS BEATING]

The funeral procession heads an hour
and a half up into the mountains

to a sacred ledge where sky
burials have been performed

for over a thousand years.

[CHANTING]

Here they will rendezvous with
the most efficient scavengers

in these mountains, vultures.

For millennia, Buddhists
in these mountains

have relied on the griffon
vulture and the lammergeier

to help them dispose of their dead.

These birds swiftly consume a
corpse before it can spread disease.

Buddhists just see this is a
sacred act, an offering that will

sustain the life of another being.

For them, Nombe-la's corpse
is now an empty vessel.

His soul has already
migrated to another realm.

[SOBBING]

[SPEAKING TIBETAN]

Nombe-la's sons pay their
final respects to their father.

But they don't wish to be present
for what is about to take place.

Because in order for the vultures to
consume Nombe-la's corpse quickly,

Bharmay must make
it easier for them.

[CHANTING]

[DRUMMING, BELLS TINKLING]

[VULTURES SCREECHING]

[HORN SOUNDS]

Nombe-la's corpse is now gone
and cannot spread disease.

[SPEAKING TIBETAN]