Most of us know about basically two ways of saying goodbye to the dead: cremations and burials. Dig a little deeper though (pun intended), and you’ll be surprised to know about some of the strange, creative and straight up bizarre funerals that different cultures around the world practise. From offering the bodies to vultures, to beating the corpse to a pulp, there’s some crazy ways to dispose of the dead.

Here are some weird funeral rituals from around the world!

1. Burial beads: Turn the dead into colourful beads

Many people in South Korea opt to compress the remains of the dead person into gem-like beads in different colours which are then displayed at home.

Source – mysendoff

2. Endocannibalism: Eating the dead

In the old days, the Melanesians of Papua New Guinea and the Wari people of Brazil would eat the dead in order to expel the fear and mystery that surrounds the concept of death. The Yanomami people also practise this.

Source – tripfreakz

3. Become a memorial reef in the ocean

A company in the US called Eternal Reefs compresses remains into a sphere or reef ball that is attached to a reef in the ocean, providing a habitat for sea life. Probably leads to some curious fish!

Source – mysendoff

4. Famadihana: Turning of the bones

Once every seven years, the Malagasy people of Madagascar exhume the bodies of loved ones, wrap them in cloth and dance with the corpse sacks. It probably smells pretty bad, so they spray it with wine and tell stories of their families.

Source – pinimg

5. Buried in a fantasy coffin

In Ghana, people like to be buried in something that represents their lives. These include coffins shaped like planes for pilots, fish for fishermen and a Mercedes for a businessman!

Source – ggpht

6. Tibetan sky burial: Offer the bodies to birds

Many, especially Buddhists, sometimes cut the body up into pieces and leave them on a hill for the birds to feast on. Buddhists see dead bodies as empty vessels and consider these sky burials an act of charity and compassion.

Source – bpblog

7. Finger amputation in Papua New Guinea

Among the Dani People, the death of a loved one meant that any women and children related to the deceased had to cut off some of their fingers. This was done to drive away spirits, and is now banned.

Source – pinimg

8. Jazz burials in New Orleans

With big horn band culture at the heart of New Orleans, it’s not a surprise that they play music even in death. The funeral procession is led by a big horn band, which plays sad tunes at first, followed by upbeat jazz and blues numbers accompanied by furious dancing.

Source – squarespace

9. Blindfolded funeral

The Benguet of Northwestern Philippines blindfold their dead and place them next to the main entrance of the house.

Source – framepool

10. Tinguian Funeral: Makes it look like they’re still alive

The Tinguian people of the Philippines dress bodies in their best clothes, sit them on a chair and place a lit cigarette in their lips.

Source – news

11. Caviteno tree burial

The Caviteño, who live near Manila, bury their dead in a hollowed-out tree trunk. The tree is selected a while before the person’s death.

Source – moneyandshit

12. Apayo kitchen burial

The Apayo, who live in the north Philippines, bury their dead under the kitchen.

Source – staticflickr

13. Environmental friendly burial

In this method, you skip the embalming processes and get biodegradable, woven-willow caskets, which decompose into the ground.

Source – pinimg

14. Zoroastrian vulture funeral

The corpse is washed with bull urine, after which it is visited by a holy dog, or “Sagdid”. It is then placed atop the tower of silence, where it swiftly devoured by vultures. These vultures seem to be getting pretty well fed!

Source – tumblr

15. Haida totem pole funeral

The Haida people of North America had a special ritual for the death of a chief or shaman. The body would be crushed to a pulp with clubs and put in a suitcase box. The box would then be placed in a mortuary totem pole in front of the deceased person’s house.

Source – larskrutak