Kyrgyz Death Customs and Rites

Culture and Customs of the Kyrgyz

Culture refers to the features that distinguish one group of people from another. Customs are hereditary customs and beliefs that are passed down through a community’s generations. The Kyrgyz are the republic of Kyrgyzstan’s largest ethnic group.

Funeral Customs Influenced by Islam

In a conversation with one of the Kyrgyz, it was evident that this ethnic group had extensive customs and rites surrounding dying. Islam has influenced this community’s funeral customs. A cow or horse is slaughtered to honor the dead. Before dying, the individual leaves a will. A red flag is placed through the yurt of a young man on a pole and a black one for middle the aged while white is for the old. There were ceremonies to commemorate the dead. This was a ritual for the guests who were arriving. The tent where the corpse was placed could only accommodate females. In case a woman lost the husband, she untwists her hair and loudly wails as the other women wail loudly facing the wall. The deceased wife only collects her hair on either the seventh or fourteenth day after the funeral service.

Stages of Sending the Deceased on Their Last Journey

There were several stages of sending the deceased person through his last journey. There was notification of the death and if it is a man then the wife mourns in a sack cloth. The corpse is washed and wrapped in a shroud. If a woman dies, sections of tissue measuring fifty by fifty centimetres are issued and a common meal for her memorial. The memorial cycle would be three days or anniversaries. It is believed that the spirits of the dead exist in several cults. From time to time, the family prepared a funeral meal for the dead spirits to eat as it was believed that the spirits would either the smell of bacon. The interviewee indicated that the beliefs and practices are still practiced to date and they preserve the cultural identity of the Kyrgyz.