Antyesti
thumb|An 1820 painting showing a Hindu funeral procession in south India. The pyre is to the left, near a river, the lead mourner is walking in front, the dead body is wrapped in white and is being carried to the cremation pyre, relatives and friends follow
Article
16 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Scriptures
- Antyesti practices
- Shmashana - the cremation ground
- Cremation rituals
- Modern cremation methods
- Burial in Hinduism
- Post Antyesti rituals
- Genealogy registers
- Observance by Hindu communities outside India and Nepal
- Trinidad and Tobago
- United Kingdom
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|An 1820 painting showing a Hindu funeral procession in south India. The pyre is to the left, near a river, the lead mourner is walking in front, the dead body is wrapped in white and is being carried to the cremation pyre, relatives and friends follow
Antyesti (IAST: Antyeṣṭi, ), also known as Antima Samskara, Antya-kriya, Anvarohanyya, or as Vahni Samskara, literally means "last sacrifice" or "final auspicious ceremony", and refers to the funeral rites for the dead in Hinduism, which usually involves cremation of the body. This rite of passage is the last samskara in a series of traditional life cycle samskaras that start from conception in Hindu tradition.