“Sky burial or ritual dissection was once a common funerary practice in Tibet wherein a human corpse is cut in specific locations and placed on a mountaintop, exposing it to the elements or the mahabhuta and animals – especially to birds of prey. The location of the sky burial preparation and place of execution are understood in the Vajrayana traditions as charnel grounds. In Tibet the practice is known as jhator, which literally means, «giving alms to the birds»”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A burial master chops bones of a body to feed vultures during a celestial burial ceremony on April 19, 2006 in Dari County of Guoluo Prefecture, Qinghai Province, northwest China. Celestial burial is a traditional funeral of Tibetan people, which began in the 7th century. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

In this photo made late Saturday, August 9, 2014, in Keelung, Taiwan, a traditional Chinese dance troupe performs during a parade marking the beginning of the Chinese folklore's mid-summer's Ghost Month Festival. Fourteen days into the seventh month of the lunar calendar, August 9, in 2014, marks the traditional Chinese Ghost Month where the gates of the underworld are opened and spirits of the deceased are set free to roam the world of the living. The month long festivities are aimed to please the roaming spirits. (Photo by Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo)

Medics carry an injured at the explosion site in the busy center of Turkish capital, Ankara, Turkey, Sunday, March 13, 2016. The explosion is believed to have been caused by a car bomb that went off close to bus stops. News reports say the large explosion in the capital has caused several deaths and many casualties. (Photo by AP Photo)

Peerapong Butakul, a transgender person also known as “Bee”, waits backstage during a rehearsal ahead of the reopening of Tiffany's show after closing for almost three years due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Pattaya, Thailand on August 31, 2022. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo accepts the Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Album for “Sour” during the 64th Annual Grammy Awards show in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., April 3, 2022. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Highland dancers compete at Inveraray Highland Games on July 19, 2022 in Inveraray, Scotland. The games are held in the grounds of Inveraray Castle celebrate Scottish culture and heritage with field and track events, piping, highland dancing competitions and heavy events including the world championships for tossing the caber. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

A visitor stands in the exhibition “I Am A Drop In The Ocean” dedicated to the artistic and visual expressions of the protests that shook the Ukraine from November 2013 until February 2014 at the Kuenstlerhaus gallery in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, April 10, 2014. The exhibition opens its doors from April 11 until May 23, 2014. (Photo by Ronald Zak/AP Photo)

“Himalayan Dog”. This dog just appeared out of nowhere and followed us for an entire week during our trekking trip in the Himalayan outback. He always used to sleep in front of our tent and guarded us in the nights. When I decided to get up at 4 a.m. to climb the next 5000 m peak for sunrise he accompanied me as well. On the top he was sitting for the entire 30 minutes on this place looking straight into the countryside. Photo location: Ladakh, India. (Photo and caption by Sebastian Wahlhuetter/National Geographic Photo Contest)