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Andrew West 魏安
@babelstone.co.uk

When I was in Lhasa in Spring 1985 I witnessed a sky burial. Below are a selection of photographs I took (with permission, and only after the vultures had been summoned) using poor quality Chinese film after finishing my supply of Fujifilm.

Andrew West 魏安@babelstone.co.uk

The site of the sky burial is near Sera Monastery, and brightly-painted Buddhist paintings adorn the nearby rocks, prominently featuring Yama, god of death, with the head of a buffalo, holding a skull-tipped club in his right hand and a lasso in his left hand, standing on a bull.

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Andrew West 魏安
@babelstone.co.uk

Vultures gathered on a large rock to consume the remains of human bodies laid out for them. The rock is covered in hollows formed over many years when pounding bones with tsampa flour; the tsampa flour has whitened the entire rock.

Andrew West 魏安
@babelstone.co.uk

Some foreigners (Germans or Swedes I think) arrived after me, and initially observed from a distance before I was asked to invite them over. The man dressed all in white is one of the two rogyapas who were responsible for cutting up the bodies and preparing the flesh and bones for the vultures.