Description

Death is the ultimate truth of life. All religions consider birth and death in the same package and have given importance to death rites and ancestor worship. With death, the non-existence begins. It is something common in all religions.

The central concern of all philosophies is not life but death. Man knows that life is finite and the future beyond life is unknown. So, it is natural to ask, is there any life after death? If yes, it is certainly a life without a body. Death is the end of physical existence, but it is not the end of a person. So, death rites and ancestor worship arose in all societies.

Ancestor worship is the belief that at the death of an individual, his/her social personality is not erased; but rather transformed. The basis of ancestor worship lies in this belief found in all human societies. It also creates a distance between the living and the dead while commemorating the dead and paying respect to them.

About Author

Dr. Reba Lahiri was a student of Philosophy at Jadavpur University, where she did her MA, MPhil and PhD. She did her BEd and LLB from the University of Calcutta. She was a Senior Research Scholar at the Centre of Indological Studies and Research in the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark, Kolkata. She is also the published author of ‘Rites of Initiation – A Study in Comparative Religion’ and ‘Mahabharate Anyanya Geeta’. Her upcoming book ‘Mahabharate Prachin Samkhya Darshan’ is based on her post-doctoral (2013-16) work. Now she is a Research Scholar at the Centre for Comparative Religion and Culture, National Council of Education, Jadavpur. She has written several papers on religio-philosophical studies for different journals. She is also a social worker.