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A pyre is a structure, such as a mound of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite. A form of cremation, a body or bodies is placed upon the pyre and the pyre is set on fire. In a Viking funeral the pyre was built on a ship, which was then floated out to sea as it burned. Traditionally, pyres are used for the cremation of the deceased in Hinduism. Pyres are uncommon in the Western world in modern times and have been replaced by indoor cremation in a crematorium.
Other uses Pyre is also the name of an underground literature/art group in the mid 1990s. In the religion of hinduism, widows were often forced to hurl themselves upon their husband's funeral pyre. They would stay there until they had burned to death with their husband's body. the male and female bones were then separated and buried seperately. (because women were considered inferior and must not defile the dead body of their husbands.) It was beleived that if they were not seperated, that both would reincarnate as one- as a cockroach. See also | ||||||||
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