Avvar: Death Rites and Burial

Towers of the Dead - Air Burial
The Avvar believe that the body of the dead must be "offered to the Lady" by being dismembered and placed in Towers of the Dead. The Lady of the Skies is the Avvar's Death Deity.

Towers were carved from the mountain thousands of years ago and it is in these places where the bodies of the dead are laid. These towers are vast, hollow, roofless places with stone shelves (or long rectangular niches set around the edge like shelves. These shelves are large enough to take a single inhumed body) jutting out of the circular interior wall. The floor of the tower is dusty and littered with the bones of the dead. All Avvar dead are laid here, to be consumed by carrion and taken to the Lady and her Realm of the Dead. Exposed to the elements this is a holy rite, needed in order for the spirit of the Avvar to live amongst the gods. The "Song of Passing" is sung and incense burned while the body is transported to the tower, the music keeping the spirit close so it can be released once inside the Tower of the Dead. Shaman often perform this rite, but since they are not going to be around for every death a close family member can perform the death rite as well.

There is a role for the close family (or those chosen by the shaman or Thane) who are referred to as "body-breakers". This task is performed with gravity and ceremony. According to Avvar beliefs, this "body breaking" makes it easier for the soul of the deceased to move on from the uncertain plane between life and death onto the next life; the song keeping the spirit close while the body is dissembled and taken to the Tower of the Dead. The breaking of the body also aids the carrion in consuming the body and taking it to the Lady.

The Songs of Passing
"O chì, chì mi na mòr-bheanna O chì, chì mi na còrr-bheanna O chì, chì mi na coireachan Chì mi na sgoran fo cheò..."

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Chì mi gun dàil an t-àite 'san d' rugadh mi; Cuirear orm fàilte 'sa chànan a thuigeas mi; Gheibh mi ann aoidh agus gràdh nuair ruigeam, Nach reicinn air thunnachan òir.