File:Cremation of Yesugei Baghatur.PNG

Cremation of Yesugei Baghatur
Mongolians were very strict traditionalists, let the special person called “yaschin”  to enter first to fix the body of the dead for burial. They prohibit to let others where the dead were placed. The reason that they prohibit is if they let anybody enter he or she will be possessed with infamy which comes from the corpse to others. That is why even the close ones, friends, relatives were prohibited to enter. They should offer prayers for the dead instead of entering or visiting and grieve from a distance through doing charity. They should even refrain crying for the dead because the tears will become an ocean that can cause trouble in the future life of the dead.

After death, the face of the corpse was covered with a white khadak which is "a long piece of silk or other cloth specially made ... in commemoration for a special event".The Mongolian proverb for this custom is "in life cover your private parts, in death your face"

Nobles were also buried in coffins, and these coffins were buried with additions like weapons, horses, food and other things, which were meant to help them in the next world.The location of a nobleman's tomb was kept secret, to ensure that they rested in peace.

When the right time had come, the corpse was usually placed on a cart (tärgä) pulled by horse or cow. Then the bereaved men of the family followed the cart to the clan's or family's burial place, which was an uninhabited area separate from the areas used by the nomads. These places were sacred and only visited for funeral-related events.

Apart from the open-air burial, there were other funeral practices in Mongolia like cremation, embalming and the "water-burial", another form of open-air burial.

When people died from infectious diseases or poisoned, the corpse was placed on the funeral pyre then set on fire as part of a funeral rite to reduce the danger of an epidemic.



The corpse of Yesugei Baghatur, who died of poison was wrapped in white cloth and the body was placed upon the funeral pyre then set on fire as part of a funeral rite. Then a fire was made to sacrifice the select pieces of (lamb) meat and white dishes (cagaan idää).According to Mongolians, this is the last virtuous act a person can carry out. The only person who was allowed to touch the corpse and prepare it for the burial was the "jasu bari cu", the "undertaker", one of the deceased person's male children or a male relative who was born under the same sign of the 12-year-cycle. Temüjin then set on fire to the funeral pyre of Yesugei Baghatur.

Mongolians believed that the soul of the deceased could return. The rite of passage was performed by the spiritual master, Bogd Gegeen Khan Ruler of Ulaanbaatar in harmony with the Vedic view that the microcosm of all living beings is a reflection of a microcosm of the universe. The soul is the essence and immortal that is released at the ritual, but both the body and the universe are vehicles and transitory consist of five elements - air, water, fire, earth, and space. The last rite of passage returns the body to the five elements and origins While his body was burning, the hymns similar to  Rigvedic hymn 10.16 was recited....Read "Khan the Great" understand Funeral and  Burial Rituals of ancient Mongolians...Sivkishen Ji, Author

