Asia's Three Paths of Departure

The practice of Sky Burial (Jhatar in Tibet) offers a profound example of how ritual can be dictated by extreme environmental necessity, intertwined with spiritual conviction. In the harsh, high-altitude plateaus of Tibet, the ground is often frozen solid year-round, and wood for cremation is virtually non-existent. These geographical constraints historically made traditional burial or fire-based rites practically impossible, demanding a radically different approach to disposing of the dead that respected the environment.