TIBET, CHINA Video shows a man called a rogyapa (Tibetan: རོ་སྐྱག་) preparing the bodies of the deceased for a traditional Tibetan funeral ceremony called sky burial (Tibetan: བྱ་གཏོར). He cuts the bodies of the deceased into small pieces to be thrown on top of the mountain as food for birds, especially vultures.
For Tibetans, such burial is in harmony with nature and Buddhism. Such a ceremony underlines the unimportance of the body in the Buddhist worldview, since they believe in reincarnation. Giving the body to nature is an honour for Tibetans.
However, this unusual burial ceremony also stems from the geographical location of Tibet, which is situated on a plateau made up of rock. Burying bodies in the ground here is simply not possible or would be very difficult.