Lazy Sunday.
Bal Thackeray has passed away, and Mumbai was just a placid lake, bursting at the seams to get back to its routine. The famed Mumbai Spirit, that springs back to mundane, out of any calamity.
After an hour of Manjula Padmanabhan's "Suki", settled for "Look & Wonder: Gods & Goddesses". While reading about the underworld, the practice of burying the dead with a coin practice kinda stuck me out. India also has that common practice, and I have never questioned or given it a second thought before.
The Greeks bury their dead with a coin over the eyes, to pay for the trip to the underworld. On further scurrying over the net, got me to this, a response on Yahoo Answers (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061104111146AA0CUXU)
"This is a very old ritual still popular in the Mediterranean portion of Europe. It dates back to the Greek Religion. It was changed and adopted by the Roman Christians.
When people died they went to the shores of the river Acheron a river that fed into the river Styx. To get into Hades realm they needed to be transported across the river. If a dead soul tried to swim across then they would lose their memories.
Charon (Chiron) was the soul doomed for eternity to ferry people across. He demanded to be paid for his surfaces. If the person was unable to pay then they spent eternity in a limbo like state. If the family made sure to include a coin with the spirit then that soul would have the money to pay for the trip.
Once ferried across the river Acheron the souls would appear before Hades himself to be judged. Those souls found wanting or with evil would be sentenced to an eternity with various punishments (as outlined in the book by the Italian author Dante). Those souls that were good would be sent to the Elysian Fields.
Originally the dead were buried with a coin under their tongue, but the habit changed to a coin over their eyes during Roman times after the start of Christianity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_funer… Remember that the eyes are considered the window to the soul; so placing the coins over the eyes makes sure that the soul will have them in the afterlife. Before Christianity became popular the remains of the dead were cremated.Placing coins over the eyes of the dead is actually a pagan ritual that became ingrained in the Italian culture. It was brought to the US by immigrants, and the ritual became famous in the Godfather movies where Mafia members were buried this way."
Bal Thackeray has passed away, and Mumbai was just a placid lake, bursting at the seams to get back to its routine. The famed Mumbai Spirit, that springs back to mundane, out of any calamity.
After an hour of Manjula Padmanabhan's "Suki", settled for "Look & Wonder: Gods & Goddesses". While reading about the underworld, the practice of burying the dead with a coin practice kinda stuck me out. India also has that common practice, and I have never questioned or given it a second thought before.
"This is a very old ritual still popular in the Mediterranean portion of Europe. It dates back to the Greek Religion. It was changed and adopted by the Roman Christians.
When people died they went to the shores of the river Acheron a river that fed into the river Styx. To get into Hades realm they needed to be transported across the river. If a dead soul tried to swim across then they would lose their memories.
Charon (Chiron) was the soul doomed for eternity to ferry people across. He demanded to be paid for his surfaces. If the person was unable to pay then they spent eternity in a limbo like state. If the family made sure to include a coin with the spirit then that soul would have the money to pay for the trip.
Once ferried across the river Acheron the souls would appear before Hades himself to be judged. Those souls found wanting or with evil would be sentenced to an eternity with various punishments (as outlined in the book by the Italian author Dante). Those souls that were good would be sent to the Elysian Fields.
Originally the dead were buried with a coin under their tongue, but the habit changed to a coin over their eyes during Roman times after the start of Christianity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_funer… Remember that the eyes are considered the window to the soul; so placing the coins over the eyes makes sure that the soul will have them in the afterlife. Before Christianity became popular the remains of the dead were cremated.Placing coins over the eyes of the dead is actually a pagan ritual that became ingrained in the Italian culture. It was brought to the US by immigrants, and the ritual became famous in the Godfather movies where Mafia members were buried this way."
On the same page, there was also a very practical answer, without so many myths and fantasies tumbled.
"Years ago this was done to make sure the eyes remained close before burial, who wants a dead person looking up at you? Some think it was some spiritual means but just practical measure."
Now that we understand the Greeks, the Roman Catholics, the Italians and even the Mafia's practice of dead sent with a coin, I still wonder why we in India bury the dead with a coin on their forehead. If the coins were on the eyes, the practicality of the situation could be understood, on the forehead would have highlighted the similarity. Yet on the forehead, and we do not believe in any kind of river or ferryman, who transports us to neverland.
The curiosity led me to "Omens and Superstitions of Southern India" by Edgar Thurston (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/35690/35690-h/35690-h.htm) Haven't read that yet, but hopefully, it shall give some answers. Now back to my, "Look&Wonder" , let me read and wonder, how far my curiosity can be stoked.
Thank you for sharing this. It was quiet informative.
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