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MORTUARY RITES: PHASE I

Doy (dressing and laying out of the corpse)

Soon after death the corpse was cleaned and dressed in new clothes by
the immediate relatives living in or visiting the house of the deceased.
One of the ritual acts was the `bathing of the corpse', which consisted of
pouring water on the deceased's hands. This rite is usually performed
by the kinsmen present, especially the luug-laan (children and grand
children). (We are already familiar with the ritual act of bathing and
pouring water in Songkran rites; as in those rites, here, too, it is said
that the living pay their respects to and ask forgiveness of the deceased.
Also it is said that the corpse is cleansed for the passage of its winjan to
heaven.) The hands and feet of the corpse were tied together with thread,
and the body was laid out face up on a mat and pillow in a sleeping
attitude.

A coin (one baht) was put in the deceased's mouth, which was then
closed with beeswax. (This is to enable him `to buy his way up to heaven'
and purchase a house and land there.) A pair of flowers and a pair of
candles (`everything is done in pairs') and a 2-baht note were placed in
the hands, tied together in the waj (worshipping) position. (The money
serves the same purpose as the coin in the mouth; `the candles and
flowers will be used by the deceased to worship Buddha'.)

The corpse was laid out with the head pointing west. (This means that
he has already gone to the new world. `Normally when we are alive we
point our heads to the east when we sleep. The dead are pointed in the
opposite direction.' West is the direction of death.)

The visible orifices—the eyes and the mouth—were closed by means
of wax. (`This is to prevent the living members of the family from losing
interest in life. For they know that finally they too will die in the same way.')

At the head of the corpse were placed a number of ritual articles.
(Informants said that all the things the deceased used when alive were
put near the coffin so that they might not forget to take them to the
cemetery. When these objects are placed at his head, the living say: `The
articles that you used, we give them to you to take away' (khong cao kei
chai, kha hai pai).) The objects were: (1) the mattress and blanket he
used when alive (these will be taken to the cemetery and burned with the
corpse); (2) a basket containing a dish of rice and another of fish and
chilli (`for the winjan to eat'); (3) a vessel containing water (`for the
winjan to drink'); (4) some clothes (for the deceased to wear in heaven);
(5) a knife (to be given to the monks for use in the temple); and (6) a red
cloth (which is later to be used to cover the coffin—pha pok heep).

3 Bun Phraawes festival: the great story of Wesandaun is recited from the decorated pulpit; the painted
cloth draped at the back depicts the story (see Chapters 10 and 12)

khwan ceremony being performed for two pregnant women, who are wearing head
cotton and are sitting to the right of the officiant (paahm) who is reciting with hands
the attitude of worship and with the palm-leaf text in front of him. In the centre
ecorated phakhwan and food offerings, lustral water, etc. (see Chapter 13)

4b Women worshipping on the Buddhist Sabbath at the wat

At the head and feet a string was tied to posts just above the corpse, and
on this string was draped a white cloth called the pha hak hua. (It was
compared by the abbot to the five precepts—`the mourners wish the
dead body to be pure as the white cloth'.) The anthropologist, however,
notes other symbolic meanings. The white cloth above the corpse is later
also used to cover the coffin and is finally given to a monk as the bansakula
cloth. White signifies death; it is also ideally the proper colour for a layman
to wear to the temple. The red cloth (which is also used later to cover the
coffin) is brought home directly after the cremation, and is later purified
by the monks. It thus represents normal secular life and its continuation.

The place where the corpse is laid out has symbolic significance in
relation to the values attached to different parts of the house (see Chapter 2).
It lies in the centre of the huean yaai (the `large house' which is the
sleeping room), bridging or straddling the `invisible' barrier between
the parents' room (hong peueng), which is the eastern half, and the room
of the married daughter and son-in-law (hong suam), which is the western
half. Death obliterates the taboos that surround the huean yaai in ordinary
life; normally closed to distant kin and outsiders, the most sacred part
of the house is thrown open to all mourners. Furthermore, the position
of the corpse—head to the west lying in the son-in-law's quarter, and
feet to the east lying in the parents' quarter—is a reversal of the normal
auspicious directions, and especially in the case of parents is a `denigration'
of the dead body.

The death had been reported to relatives and the headman, the latter
of whom in turn is said to have instructed villagers to help the bereaved
household. (This highlights the norm that death requires the participation
of the community.) People of the village, kin and non-kin, assembled to
`make the coffin' and help conduct the mortuary rites. A large gathering
of all ages was present, and many household heads contributed money
gifts ranging from 1 to 5 baht. These amounts were meticulously noted
down.

Old women of the mother category (mae) prepared cigarettes and
betel-nut packets; the young women—both married and unmarried—
cooked food; and the men of all ages constructed the coffin and decorated
it. When the coffin was ready it was carried into the house and the corpse,
with the mat and clothes, was put into it. Four paper flags were stuck in
its corners, and all the paper money contributed by the mourners was
stuck on bamboo sticks, which were then planted in its sides.

Some of the men, mostly young, were entrusted with the task of cutting
firewood in the forest and making a pyre at the place of cremation there.
Once they had gone into the forest they would not be allowed to return

home until the cremation was over. (If they did, they would carry disease
to their relatives.)

In the mid-morning monks and novices arrived to chant and were
presented with food. It was after lunch that a long spell of chanting took
place, two sets of chants being recited. The first was suad kusala, which
said that whatever merit and demerit the deceased had acquired, might
the merit increase and the demerit disappear. The next was the suad jod
muk, recited by two monks. (We were told by the abbot that it `tells the
winjan of the deceased the way to heaven'. A second interpretation of
this particular suad was given by a layman, and this is the fullest interpretation
we recorded. He said that at death the four elements, tat winjan
(soul), and khan ha (body and mind) become scattered. The recitation
of the suad by two monks has the purpose of calling together these elements
and reconstituting them;[1] at the same time the way to heaven is indicated.
All the chants were in a general sense meant to give merit (haj bun) to
the dead.)

Funeral procession

The coffin, as is always required, was carried out with the feet of the
deceased leading and pointing west. (Villagers said that the coffin also
is carried to the cemetery pointing `west', once again emphasizing the
direction of death.) As it was being taken out of the house, jars of water
in the house and the house ladder were turned upside down. Then the
jars were filled with water again and the ladder replaced in its original
position. The anthropologist notes these as ritual reversals. (Villagers said
it is done so that the winjan will not find its way back to the house.
A Buddhist twist was also given—that these acts meant that human
beings are subject to the cycle of existence.)

The coffin-bearers were three sons of the deceased and a son-in-law
(luug kei). Before they actually lifted the coffin, flowers and candles were
distributed to them—a ritual act common in all situations when `specialist'
services are requested. (But the flowers have additional significance in
this context. The coffin-bearers are exposed to the danger that the dead
man's phii may take hold of them or harm them. On arrival at the cemetery,
therefore, they will use the flowers and candles to pay respect to the
deceased and acquire for themselves the power and strength of Phraa
Buddha and Dhamma to counter the possible malevolence of the phii.)

The funeral procession was led by monks. A long cord (dai chung phii)
was fastened at the foot of the coffin, and the monks held it at the other

end. (The monks are said to lead the way (hon tang) to heaven.) If a young
kinsman of the deceased, usually a grandson or son, has been specially
ordained to make merit for him, he would lead the procession. The monks
were followed by the coffin, then by the males, and finally the females.
Persons of all ages attended the cremation.

On the way puffed rice was thrown on the ground. (`Once a person
dies he will never be reborn as the same person. The puffed rice similarly
cannot be grown again.' A second meaning attached to this act is as
follows: `Puffed rice is thrown so that phii will come and welcome the
dead man. If it is not offered to them, they will enter the coffin, which
will become heavy for the bearers; puffed rice is thrown to lure the phii
to the cemetery so that they do not prowl around the village.')

When the procession reached the cemetery, it was met by other monks.
It is worth noting that it is customary, at a grand rite of passage, to invite
monks from other village temples to officiate together with the local
monks. Monks from five nearby villages were specifically invited. Altogether
there were twenty-two monks and novices conducting the cremation
rites.

The cemetery is situated away from the village, in the proximity of
the wat and to its west—a clear expression of the fact that death is the
business of the monks and of the distinction that the place of death is
separated from the stage of life.

Cremation

The funeral pyre had already been built by the young men despatched
in the morning. The construction consisted of two posts planted in the
earth, with firewood piled laterally between them.[2] The coffin was conducted
three times around the pyre in a counter-clockwise direction. It was
then placed near the pyre with the dead man's head pointing west. (The
circumambulation was explained by informants in two ways: (1) old
laymen said that it represented encirclement by death and birth (wian taj
wian koed), or the cycle of death and rebirth. (2) a monk explained that
each circumambulation signified in sequence: (a) roop-pa-pob—body
state—that is, `let the dead man be reborn as a human body', (b) kammapob—`let
the dead man be reborn and have wife and children' (actually
the strict meaning of the Pali concept is the `state of sensual existence'),

and (c) juan-ra-pob—state of walking—that is, `let the deceased travel
a good path in his next life'.[3] The anthropologist notes that the counterclockwise
circumambulation is a reversal of the clockwise circling of the
wat in collective Buddhist rites. If the latter `binds' the sacred and also
signifies `ascent', the former `unbinds' or scatters the body to its destiny
after death.)

The people assembled at the cemetery collected dry sticks and placed
them on the pyre. (`It brings merit to help burn the corpse.')

The white cloth covering the coffin was taken off and two men, standing
on either side of the coffin pyre, threw it to each other three times. This is
the bansakula cloth already referred to.[4] (Villagers interpreted the throwing
of this cloth three times in much the same way as they interpreted the
circumambulation.)

After the monks rendered a set of chants, they were presented with
gifts of packets containing tobacco, betel and money, and they chanted
a blessing in acceptance of the gifts.

The next sequence was the pouring of water on the corpse. Two monks
in succession poured coconut juice on the corpse's face (`Water of the
young coconut is as pure as the Five Precepts.') Relatives of the deceased
and villagers poured scented water on the corpse. (While pouring, one
usually says `I come to wash your face, may you ascend to heaven.' As one
informant put it, `The face is washed because after death he goes to the
other world. Water is poured to cleanse and make the corpse beautiful.
People usually say, while pouring: "When being reborn, don't bring
any disease with you. Don't starve, be rich in the next birth." ' He also
explained that monks cleanse the corpse first because they `keep the
precepts and practise morality'.)

The cord which had previously been attached to the foot of the coffin
when the monks led it to the cemetery was now fastened to its head.
Two monks held the cord and recited a brief chant. (This is called the
suad-anit-cha, which says that all bodies are impermanent; ageing, struggle
and death are inevitable processes.) Three other groups of monks repeated
this sequence. A log had been placed between the coffin and the monks,
and none of the monks stepped over this barrier. (No interpretation of this
was forthcoming. The anthropologist is tempted to say that monks stand
at the threshold of death, but do not actually enter that realm.) This

concluded the ritual role of most of the monks, who then returned to the
wat. Before leaving they were individually presented with gift packets
(bang-maag) which also contained money.

The ritual was now approaching the actual cremation. The four paper
flags were removed from the coffin and planted on the pyre. The abbot
moved to the head of the coffin and held one end of the white cloth placed
on its top. He rendered a brief chant and then took the cloth. The clothes,
mattress and blanket of the deceased were placed near the pyre, the
coffin was lifted on to the pyre, and the remaining monks and the villagers
lit the firewood. While the corpse burned, the monks chanted. (`This is
to tell the way to heaven.')

The people left the cemetery after the pyre was ignited. It is the custom
that when they return to the village from the cemetery, they must first
go into the wat compound and only then to the funeral house (home of
the deceased), where they are feasted. The wat immunizes the dangers
of death.

That evening a ceremony took place in the funeral house which I should
like to emphasize. Beginning on this evening, the monks came to the
house for three nights in order to chant suad paritta mongkhon `for
protection and for blessing'. Certain objects were put in a fishing net:
these were the clothes of the deceased left in the house and the tools used
for cutting wood for the pyre. A thread was attached to the Buddha image,
then it was held by the abbot; next it was wound round a bowl of water,
then it was held by the other monks, after which the end was attached
to the net. In a subsequent section I shall deal with these protection
ceremonies and the making of lustral water. It is obvious that the monks
were purifying the objects mentioned or, to put it differently, were themselves
`absorbing' and neutralizing their impurity. As one informant put
it, `the thread is tied to those objects, and sacred words in Pali pass
through it to drive away disease and the dead man's winjan'.

The chanting was followed by the wake `to make the family members
happy (gnan hyan dee)'. Many people, both old and young, stayed on
in the funeral house until very late, the old conversing and the young
playing games. This was an occasion for young people of both sexes to
have fun together. On the following two nights as well people visited the
funeral house, both to listen to the monks' chanting and to make the
bereaved family happy.