Page:Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet.djvu/292

 the dead person, they are said to incur the risk of being ridden by his ghost, and are consequently not allowed to attend the funeral. The astrologer also receives his reward in money or kind. Then the corpse, tightly wrapped in clothes, is placed on a stretcher facing the direction which has been declared auspicious by the astrologer, and is placed in a corner of the house. Five butter lamps are lighted near the head, and a screen is drawn round it, within which his usual food and drink, together with a lamp, are placed. Early on the morning of the day appointed for the disposal of the body, it is carried to the nearest cemetery. At the time of its removal the relations make profound salutations to it. Two men carrying wine or tea, together with a dishful of tsamba, follow the bier. The family priest, or lama, of the deceased throws a khatag on the litter and walks behind at a slow pace, holding a corner of another scarf tied to it. As he proceeds he mutters funeral mantra, turning a hand-drum (damaru) with his right hand, and with his left ringing a bell. It is inauspicious to place the litter on the ground before its arrival at the cemetery. If by accident this should happen, the body must be disposed of at that spot, instead of in the cemetery. In the neighbourhood of Lhasa there are two sacred cemeteries, Phabongka and Serashar. Those who dispose of dead bodies at the former pay two or three tanka for tea to the monks of Phabongka monastery; and at the latter they pay one tanka to the cemetery keeper, who also gets the bedding and clothes of corpses.

In every cemetery there is a large slab of stone, on which the corpse, stripped of its coverings, is placed face downwards. The officiating lama then crosses it with lines, and while repeating mantras, cuts it in pieces. The first pieces are flung towards the biggest and oldest vulture of the flock, called tankar, and the remainder to the rest. They are so tame that they come one by one at the call of the priest. Last of all the head of the corpse is crushed, and the bones pounded together are mixed with the brain and distributed among the vultures. Then a new and unused earthen bowl, filled with fire of argol (dried cowdung), with some butter and barley flour burnt in it as incense, is presented to the departed by being placed in the quarter towards which he is supposed to have gone. The funeral attendants now wash their hands, and retiring to a short distance from the cemetery, breakfast, and at about midday return