These Are The Hanging Coffins Of Children Who Have Perished

Traditionally our loved ones that have passed on are given a proper funeral before being lowered six feet underground to their final resting place.

While this has become the norm in the U.S., other cultures around the world have different ways of honoring their dead. Some groups even have their very own holidays to honor the deceased. Deep in the mountains of Sagada, Philippines, the surviving members of the Igorot tribe are opting out of burying the dead, instead choosing to raise their spirits up (literally).

The people of Sagada have buried their dead along mountainsides in hanging coffins for the last two millennia.

These hanging coffins rest hundreds of feet above ground.

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It is the belief of the Igorot tribe that by raising the dead aboveground, they are closer to their ancestral spirits and thus can become eternally blessed. Another reason for the hanging coffins is they are clear of any damage that may be caused by neighboring wildlife.

The coffins are attached by building beams into the mountainsides or by simply placing the coffins on pre-existing rock ledges.

To fit the small coffins, the bones of the dead are broken and the bodies are positioned in the fetal position. It is largely believed that the dead should spend the afterlife in the same position that they came into the world.

Instead of tombstones, the names of the dead are painted on the exposed side of the coffin.

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While burying the dead in hanging coffins was once heavily practiced in the Philippines, it has since become an event that occurs only a few times every couple years.

(via Rough Guides Limited)

Sagada, Philippines, is not the only place that practices the art of hanging coffins. Parts of China and Indonesia also have their own beliefs for raising their dead to new heights.

While I can appreciate the religious aspects of hanging coffins, I can’t imagine having to deal with the visual reminder of all the death and sadness from years past.