Cremation is simply the practice of burning human corpses û except for the fact that nothing about a cultureÆs last rites is ever really simple. Last rites are among the most important to any group in how it defines itself. Cultural identity consists of a series of actions and beliefs that one does and has û and that oneÆs neighbor does not do and does not have. Some of these actions and beliefs are relatively inconsequential and can be (and are) changed frequently and without much thought or significance given to such changes. Other customs, such as funerary rites, tend to change slowly and to reflect large overall changes in the society. How we say goodbye for the last time is one of the ways in which we learn to define who exactly it is that we are.
This paper looks at the ritual of cremation in two different cultural groups, that of Hindus in India (although American Hindus follow very much the same customs, and may even return to India to cremate family members so that changes do not have to be made in traditions) and of Protestants in the United States. Before describing the differences in cremation practices between these two religious groups, a brief general description of cremation and of funerary rites will be given.
In almost every human society, the human body is prepared in some fashion before it is finally laid to rest. The first known deliberate burials were those of early Homo sapiens groups and archaeological evidence indicates that one of these early groups, the Neandertals, stained their dead with red ocher û a possible indication of some belief in an afterlife. Washing the body, dressing it in special garments, and adorning it with ornaments, religious objects, or amulets were common early procedures. Sometimes the feet are tied together, possibly to prevent the ghost of the deceased from wandering about (Iserson, 1994, p. 12).
The most thorough early treatment of the body was embalming, which probably...