Know Here: Why Tinguian tribe dress up bodies before funerals

The world is a land of strange and weird customs. Out of them, the Tinguian Funeral is the one whose funeral custom will leave people stunned. These people make dead bodies look like they’re still alive.

1st of January 2024

In picture: Tinguian dead body, dressed along with cigarette. (Credits: Scoop Whoop)

The world is a land of strange and weird customs. Out of them, the Tinguian Funeral is the one whose funeral custom will leave people stunned. These people make dead bodies look like they’re still alive.

Tinguian is an Austronesian ethnic group from the upland province of Abra in north-western Luzon of the Philippines. Tinguian men are also known as Sallapadan.

The news of a loved one’s death affects each person differently. Following this news, different forms are observed around the world, as cultures often celebrate the life of the individual and honour their death in ways unique to their culture.

About Tinguian Funeral

It is to be noted that the Tinguian people of the Philippines dress the dead bodies in their best clothes, sit them on a chair and place a lit cigarette on their lips.

The people of these particular tribes have been doing this practice for generations, and it is considered an important part of the funeral ceremony.

Tinguian Funeral Poses

The Tinguian people have a very different and unique practice during their funerals. The whole point is to make the dead look alive.

In addition to being placed in their finest clothes- a practice that can also be seen in standard funerals, one may see around here. The dead are placed in common poses, like sitting in a chair holding a cigarette as if they had never died.

Unusual ritual of Tinguian Tribe. (Credits: Beleiv Funeral Services in India)
Unusual ritual of the Tinguian Tribe. (Credits: Beleiv Funeral Services in India)

However, they are not only the Filipino group with interesting death traditions as the members of the Benguet group blindfold their dead and seat them near the main entrance of their homes.

Moreover, the Apayo bury their dead under their kitchens, while the Caviteno bury their corpse in the hallow trunks of trees that the deceased chose when they first became ill.

Additionally, we typically either cremate or bury the deceased based on religious and personal beliefs. However, people from around the world practice an array of unusual rituals in order to commemorate and dispose of the dead.

Moreover, death is one of the few human experiences that’s truly universal. All people die. Because of this, it comes as no surprise that death has played an important role in virtually all world cultures since the dawn of civilization.