After the death of a person, two primary options of laying the body to rest are cremation and burial. Cremation refers to the burning of the body to the extent that only a small amount of cremated material remains at the end and burial deals with engraving the engraving body, enclosed in a coffin or casket.
The selection of one of these options is dependent on communities’ beliefs, preferences, funds, family circumstances, and potentially other factors as well. Let’s have a short look at the two options, what each of these methods involves, and the benefits and detriments of each. This will provide you enough knowledge to decide the best choice between the two for you.
Burial
Let’s see how good or bad it is to bury the dead body of someone.
Options:
A body can be engraved in a variety of places. These places include the ground at a cemetery, Private property, Lawn crypt, and Mausoleum. Considering all the places to bury, a cemetery is still the best place to excavate the soil and bury someone. Other options, like private property, lawn crypt, and mausoleum, have more disadvantages than advantages. For example, the owner can sell his private estate in the future. Similarly, a lawn crypt has the space to bury only one or two coffins/ caskets. Apart from a place to bury, another significant query is whether to bury in a coffin or casket? It depends on the person’s condition and family preferences. Both casket and coffin are equally suitable for the body.
Advantages:
To bury someone in the ground(grave) is a traditional method of laying the body to rest, and it comes up with many benefits. Those advantages are:
- A wide range of human communities has their belief to bury the dead bodies. So, this method is acceptable to them.
- This method is eco-friendly, and it doesn’t harm the environment.
- It is an inexpensive method and is economical for both the rich and the poor.
- The body is affected minimally in front of the family members, so they don’t get hurt seeing it.
Disadvantages:
As every advantageous thing has a flip side too, the burial method of body’s final rest also has some detriments to it:
- Burial is costly than cremation
- It has to be done shortly after death.
- If you move away from the place where the grave is, you would not be able to visit the dead person easily.
- According to some families, the “conventional” burial services lack personalization.
- Sometimes costly and hazardous chemicals are used for embalming the body.
Cremation
Like burial, cremation also has many aspects to it. Let’s analyze them in detail.
Options:
Incineration can be done at any vast ground. The main thing is to lay the cremated material to rest. For this option, making the right choice of an urn for ashes and remains is most significant. After that, the critical step is to decide what to do with them. Options of things you can do with the ashes and remains include dividing them into family members and scattering them on land. Flowing the remains in the sea is also very common. Some people bury the small cremated material and it is sometimes kept in a cremation urn forever.
Also, some services like legacy cremation memorials offer customized urns and other memorial products to honor the loved one’s memory. This provides a unique, meaningful, and personal touch to the entire cremation process.
Advantages:
Cremation has many trump cards. These advantages are mentioned below:
- This method of final rest is not costly.
- Cremation urns are also quite cheap.
- A memorial, burial, or scattering service can be scheduled after a long time too. There is no hustle to do all the stuff.
- A person can take away the remains i.e.; a memorial gathering can be arranged at any location.
- You can customize memorial cremation jewelry using ashes or remains.
- All the options can be combined too.
Disadvantages:
The disadvantages of cremation are mentioned below:
- This method is a permanent final rest method. It can never be undone.
- Some religions do not allow cremating dead bodies.
- Cremation services are not very common. So, it can be inconvenient to cremate the bodies in certain locations.
- Cremation affects the environment severely.
A better option for A Loved One’s Final Rest
After getting a clear idea of the pros and cons of both methods. Now, one can decide the better choice between the two. Naturally, it is entirely dependent on a community and the family of the dead person. But, here is a quick comparison of these methods.
Cremation has flexibility and personalization. It costs lesser than burial. It gives the family a time to decide what to do and provides an option to take the remains wherever the family wants. Alternatively, Burial is the most traditional method. It is more acceptable by society and religion. Also, this method doesn’t harm the environment. Whichever option may be chosen, it is always best for the living to treat arranging their loved one’s final rest, not as a chore but as a final gift to the departed.