It is a tradition in Tibetan culture making a final ceremony when they meet the fifth week of the death of a loved one. It is the final funeral ritual that definitely said goodbye to our dead.

Yesterday June 2, 2015 we said goodbye, in the great stupa of Boudhanath, the 175 family and friends who disappeared in the terrible avalanche that buried Langtang on the 25th of April.

During the ceremony lamas help us guide our loved ones to find their way. So we follow different steps:

1.Normally we perform the ritual of funeral at home and we invite Lamas and we offer them with foods and drinks while they are with the prayers. But this is a special case that we have lost almost everything and we are homeless. So we are performing the ceremony in the Stupa in a group and we offer the foods and drinks to the monks at their place.

2.In Buddist religion we believe that when someone lives the earth they directly go to hell because of the jealousy, anger, greediness etc. that we posses naturally as a human when we are alive. so the lightened candle will lead the way to heaven.

3. While we are praying we are actually asking forgiveness to our demise family members if we have said,thought or felt something bad which might have hurt they. So we put our joined hand on our head than to mouth later the chest while we bow and and put our head to the floor. During this period Lamas go on with their mantras of forgiveness.

4.When the death takes place in natural form we believe that the person prepares and knows what is happening to him. But when it takes place all of a sudden in a traumatic form we believe that the spirit of the demise stays with their loved ones and they can´t figure out their actual situation if they are death or alive. The Lamas with the instrumental sounds and prayers helps the demise ones realize that they will be loved forever but they should go to the heaven.

5.Usually we burry or burn the death body physically. In this case we don´t have the body as it was swept away by avalance, so we burn the photos with names of the demise ones.

6.Lamas blows 7 times to the rice grain during the ceremony to transmit their good energy to the demise ones who has left us their smile. Later we throw the same rice and we say goodbye to our loved one wishing a good thing to be carried on the way to heaven.

Peace & Love.