In many faiths, age-old burial traditions are no longer possible to follow during the coronavirus pandemic. Here are some of the new rites being devised:
On April 3, Iraqi volunteers in full hazmat gear prayed over the coffin of a 50-year-old who died of COVID-19. She was buried at a cemetery specifically opened for such deaths, some 12 miles from the holy city of Najaf.Haidar Hamdani/AFP via Getty Images
Just as the United States now restricts gatherings for funerals, so do countries and religious authorities around the world. Majeed, a soldier, says his father's body was among a group of bodies the government intended to bury in a field near Baghdad, outside the city. But tribal leaders refused to allow the bodies to be buried there, mistakenly fearing they could spread disease.
In the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River, a lone Hindu priest now recitesto the Hindu goddess Ganga, whom faithful believe embodies the river. Thousands of people — including tourists — used to gather here for sunrise and sunset ceremonies honoring the river goddess. Typically lined with funeral pyres — giant piles of wood set alight to burn corpses — the riverbanks are now largely empty because of a nationwide lockdown,.
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