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Karnataka: Buddhist monk dead for ten days, fellow monks await his spirit to leave body

In a strange ritual, the Buddhist monks at Shar Gaden Monastery in the Tibetan colony of Mundagodu taluk in Uttara Kannada district wait for their dead monk's spirit to leave his body. The body is being worshipped and the final rites will be performed once the body starts showing decomposing signs like a stench.

Buddhist monk
Buddhist monk
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Published : Sep 20, 2021, 8:10 PM IST

Uttara Kannada (Karnataka): The Buddhist monks at Shar Gaden Monastery in the Tibetan colony of Mundagodu taluk in Uttara Kannada district await one of their dead monk's spirit to leave the body albeit the monk passed away ten days ago. They are offering worship to the corpse in the monastery.

Geshe Phuntsok, a Tibetan monk of Shar Gaden Monastery, has died on Sept 9. The monks at the monastery believe that the spirit has not left the monk's body. So, they preserved the body in a room at the monastery and are worshipping it every day. The senior monks visit the room at regular intervals to see if the soul has left the body or not.

According to Tibetan Buddhism, it is believed that if any senior monk dies his soul or spirit remains in the body until the body fluids ooze out or stench begins to emanate from the corpse. In earlier instances too, four Buddhist monks in the same Tibetan colony were worshipped after their death. Their funeral was held 7-15 days after the stench started from their corpses.

Read: Hit by financial crisis, family of three die by suicide in Karnataka

Uttara Kannada (Karnataka): The Buddhist monks at Shar Gaden Monastery in the Tibetan colony of Mundagodu taluk in Uttara Kannada district await one of their dead monk's spirit to leave the body albeit the monk passed away ten days ago. They are offering worship to the corpse in the monastery.

Geshe Phuntsok, a Tibetan monk of Shar Gaden Monastery, has died on Sept 9. The monks at the monastery believe that the spirit has not left the monk's body. So, they preserved the body in a room at the monastery and are worshipping it every day. The senior monks visit the room at regular intervals to see if the soul has left the body or not.

According to Tibetan Buddhism, it is believed that if any senior monk dies his soul or spirit remains in the body until the body fluids ooze out or stench begins to emanate from the corpse. In earlier instances too, four Buddhist monks in the same Tibetan colony were worshipped after their death. Their funeral was held 7-15 days after the stench started from their corpses.

Read: Hit by financial crisis, family of three die by suicide in Karnataka

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