Since ancient times, many civilizations were made, run and then ended but every civilization set a mark over the next and then next. Till now, archaeologists or palaeontologists have a lot of work to do, a lot of stuff to find and a lot of material to decode, to know the pattern followed before, to know their rituals, to know their methodology, to know everything about our ancestors.
If we date back to the ancient world, the ancient Egyptians had an elaborate set of burial customs that they believed were necessary to ensure their immortality after death. These rituals and protocols were basically mummifying the body and burial as they believed it is a must requirement needed in the Egyptian afterlife.
In the current world, different religions have different beliefs. Three most widespread religions, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity follows different rituals for putting an end to the person after his death. Antyesti or Hindu funeral rites, also referred to as Antim Sanskar is a sacrament of Hindu society. The cremation ground is called Shmashana (in Sanskrit), and traditionally it is located near a river, if not on the river bank itself. Funerals in Islam calls for burial of the body, preceded by a simple ritual involving bathing and shrouding the body, followed by salah (prayer). Cremation of the body is forbidden. A Christian burial practised burial almost exclusively.
There is a huge chasm between beliefs and science as they both definitely oppose each other in many cases or scenarios. Like in this case, Science has proved that burying the dead body of a Human being or any other animal or plant is more fruitful than cremating it or keeping it in the coffin or mummifying it. But the belief preach otherwise and certainly people won’t change their pattern and beliefs for the sake of environment.
Difference between a theist and an atheist in this case is that both would either cremate or bury the dead body but the later would do it for the sake of doing whereas the former would follow all the rituals and would do it much more properly and efficiently. But, what doesn’t come in any of the person’s mind is the advantage and disadvantage of the way of putting the end to the body.
Yahoo answers for the question, ‘Which is better for a dead body, burning or burying?’ are towards the soul and the God. But none of the answers are towards the scientific advantages of both patterns. So, according to the scientists and environmentalists, they suggest that burying the dead body is much more helpful for the environment as compared to cremating or burying it.
To sum up the Biological cycle and the advantages of burying, here are some points-
1. Components of human body present in the soil.
As a Human Body has many elements which are necessary for the functioning of the body and which are also required by the plants and the soil. So, it is better for the soil to have those elements which it gets if the body is decomposed in to the soil.
2. No Pollution.
In the world where there is a huge emission of harmful gases like CO, CO2, Sulphides. It is the duty of us to stop these emissions, to stop the release of harmful gases. During cremation, a huge amount of gases are release by the burning of woods which creates more pollution.
3. Surrounding land becomes fertile.
To cremate a dead body several trees have to be chopped, which reduces the greenery and harms the environment and the ecology. When dead bodies are buried, besides the trees being saved, the surrounding land becomes fertile and it improves the environment
4. Same land can be utilised for burying another body.
Since it is pretty obvious that the wood once burnt is converted in to ashes and as an irreversible process, it cannot be converted back which results in more cost as well as more usage of the woods. But, if the body is buried and not cremated, the land can be used again to bury a different body though after few years because the earlier dead body would be decomposed by then and utilized as nutrients required for soil.
Not only Humans, but the burying of dead animals as well as plants are preferred over any other way. The micro-organisms and earthworms are the reason for the decomposition of the body and when the dead living beings are buried in the soil, they are decayed and in turn provides the improvement in the quality of soil by enriching it.
First, the earthworms and other kind of them are benefited then the micro-organisms and then the soil. The micro-organisms convert the bodies of plants or animals into natural manure which is nutrient rich for the new plants to grow. Generally in every nursery or plantation, manures are used which are spread in the soil for providing a better growth for the plants. Moreover, it also enriches the soil nutrients, its water holding capacity and also its strength in roots are increased. All this creates a biological cycle like Plants grows, provide food and then when dies, it is buried in soil thus providing nutrients for the growth of new plants.
Scientifically it has been proved that for the betterment of environment, the dead bodies should be buried and not cremated or burned yet the people tend to follow their individual beliefs but seeing from the environmental point of view it is must to bury rather cremate.
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