A crematorium is a special building in which the bodies of deceased people are burned. For some this sounds scary, others consider this procedure practical. Some even bequeath to scatter their ashes in a place that was dear to them during their lifetime. There are many opponents of this method of destroying the body, because according to the Christian religion it should be buried. But in any case, everyone is free to decide for themselves what is more acceptable for last goodbye: cemeteries, crematoriums or other non-traditional burial rites, in accordance with their beliefs, religion and worldview. Modern technologies allow you to make the process quick and aesthetic.
How it works
A crematorium is a range of services that allow you to say goodbye to the deceased with dignity. Relatives and friends invited to the ceremony should at least briefly familiarize themselves with how all this will happen, because many are frightened by the very thought of what they might see there. Often crematoria are located next to cemeteries. They have their own morgues in which they preserve the body of the deceased for three days. They also provide hair styling, makeup, and dressing services. In addition, they have halls for farewells, as well as hosts who will conduct the ceremony in a solemn atmosphere. After being said last words and flowers and bouquets are laid, the coffin is taken to the oven. Watching him go into the fire is not at all necessary, and not everyone will be able to withstand such a moral load. But there are those who, on the contrary, want to see everything that will happen to the body of a loved one, as if being next to him until the last minute. They are given this opportunity (there is a special window in the oven for this), but for a fee.
How do you get ashes?
A crematorium is not only a building, but also an oven where the body of the deceased is exposed to a stream of hot gas, the temperature of which reaches 900-1000 degrees C. It would seem that everything that is exposed to such thermal effects should turn to ashes. However, the bones remain intact. To obtain ashes for the columbarium, workers grind them in a cremulator. Then, mixed with ash from the oven, a special capsule is filled. With this method of “disposing” of the body, a “product” weighing 2.5-3 kg or a volume of 3 liters is obtained. The process itself takes place within 1-1.5 hours. Unfortunately, according to our laws, you cannot store the ashes of a loved one received from a crematorium at home. It is necessary to bury him in a special columbarium or bury him in the ground in a cemetery. In some cases, if permission from the Sanitary and Epidemiological Service has been obtained, you can disperse it in the chosen location.
Positive aspects
A crematorium is a place for a dignified farewell to the deceased. For many people, it is psychologically easier to bury ashes than to think about what happens to the body of a loved one underground. In addition, in some cases, for example, if a person died in another country, cremated remains are easier to transport to the funeral site. Also, the possibility of long-term storage of ashes is a big plus when, for some reason, it is necessary to postpone the farewell ceremony for some time.
There is no need to be afraid that during the cremation process there will be bad smell. Nowadays, improved stoves are used, so that relatives will not even see smoke. In addition, the ashes are sterile, making burial a hygienic procedure. After all, sanitary services often receive complaints that harmful substances are released into the water and soil, formed during the decomposition process underground of bodies buried in cemeteries.
Is this acceptable
The Christian religion condemns cremation as a pagan rite. Therefore, in our country it is not as widespread as abroad. But at the same time, several crematoria were built, equipped with everything necessary. Also in these buildings, unidentified corpses or the bodies of those people whose relatives refused to bury them are burned.
For example, it has been operating in Moscow for 31 years. Address: 6th kilometer of Pyatnitskoye Highway. It is located next to the cemetery and has its own morgue and hall for the farewell ceremony. This is a crematorium where prices are affordable and depend on what kind of coffin and funeral accessories are ordered. The economy option will cost only 18,500 rubles.
Some people do not want to know what will happen to their body after death. Others, on the contrary, want to be aware of everyone possible options, so that it is as comfortable as possible. Be that as it may, cremation is a worthy and, with the right organization, a solemn ceremony, which for some peoples is the only possible way burials.
Every 10 minutes, the drivers of the Minsk crematorium are required to open the valve in the furnace and stir the ashes of the deceased. They do this with absolutely equanimity, repeating that there is nothing supernatural in their work: “People are born, people die.” TUT.BY journalists personally observed the cremation process and found out why it is not customary to sprinkle ashes on your head while working here.
(Total 17 photos)
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Source: tut.by
In 2013, 39 percent of those who died were cremated.
The monumental red brick building, surrounded by columbar walls and cemetery graves, is not a pleasant place to work. The air here seems to be saturated with human grief. If in the 80s there were about 1,000 cremations a year, today their number exceeds 6,300. Last year, about 39 percent of the deceased were cremated.
1. The Minsk crematorium was opened in 1986 not far from the Northern Cemetery.
2. Unfilled cells in the columbarium - reservation. Relatives worry in advance about being “nearby” after death.
Deputy head of the crematorium Alexander Dubovsky explains the increased demand by the fact that, compared to a cemetery grave, a columbarium cell does not require special care. In addition, there are fewer and fewer places in the cemetery every year. And in the future, experts predict, the load on the crematorium will only increase. In Europe today, about 70 percent of the deceased are cremated, and in Japan - up to 98 percent.
3. Ritual hall
4. Those who have had the misfortune of visiting a crematorium know only its external side - ritual halls (there are three of them) and a store with the appropriate assortment (flowers, urns, tombstones, etc.). The cremation workshop and other utility rooms are located on the level below, and outsiders are not allowed to enter here.
5. The long and dark corridors along which coffins with the deceased are transported on a cart are connected to the ritual hall through a lifting mechanism.
6. With its help, the coffin is raised to say goodbye to relatives.
Ritual equipment operators - 5 people throughout the republic
Despite the specifics of the work, there is also “life in full swing” below. They work in the cremation workshop strong in spirit people with a tempered psyche and a healthy outlook on things. In official documents they are called “ritual equipment operators” - they are representatives of a rare, if not unique, profession in our country.
7. In the only crematorium in the republic, this work is performed by only 5 people - exclusively men. They themselves are sincerely surprised when their profession is called difficult or unpleasant. And then they remember that the morgue workers (perhaps the most experienced people in the prose of life) are also wary of the cremation workshop workers, calling them “kebab makers.” However, contrary to popular belief, there is no smell of either burnt or fried here. A cadaverous smell occurs occasionally - most often when a person dies at an advanced age and very quickly begins to decompose. On the day of our visit, we did not notice any unpleasant odors.
The work experience of the local stove makers is impressive. Both Andrei, one with a mustache, the other without, have been working at the crematorium for more than 20 years. They came, as they say, as young, strong, slender guys. It’s clear – with the expectation of working here temporarily. And then they “worked hard”, and now half their life has already passed within the walls of the crematorium. Men talk about this without a shadow of regret. They really seem quite happy with their situation. They say they don’t come face to face with the dead (dead people are cremated only in closed coffin and together with the coffin), and all the main work is entrusted to the machine.
Previously, “smoke was coming in a column”, today the driver’s work is dust-free
The cremation process is now truly automated. The workshop has four fairly modern Czech stoves. In one of them, post-operative oncological waste is burned, and the rest is used for its intended purpose. According to Alexander Dubovsky, with the old equipment there was “a column of smoke.” Now the driver's job is relatively dust-free.
After a memorial service is served for the deceased, the coffin is transported from the ritual hall either to the refrigerator (if all the ovens are occupied) or straight to the workshop. Crematorium workers say that they are often faced with the opinion that supposedly before burning they take gold and watches out of the coffin, and also remove good clothes and shoes from the deceased. “Are you going to put on the clothes of the deceased?” - Andrei asks the question point-blank, clearly tired of such conversations. And without opening the lid of the coffin, the driver quickly loads it onto the lift.
8. Now you need to wait until the computer gives the green light, and only after that you can send the deceased into it. The program automatically sets the required temperature (usually not lower than 700 degrees Celsius). Depending on the weight of the body and its condition, cremation takes from an hour to two and a half hours. All this time the driver is obliged to control the process. For this purpose, there is a small glass hole in the oven, which faint-hearted people are unlikely to dare to look into.
9. “You just treat it like this: you have to do it, and that’s it. And even at the very beginning I tried to think that I just threw the box. I used to work for one day. We should fear the living, not the dead.”
“If Ivanov came, it means they will give away Ivanov’s ashes”
The main thing, men say, is to do their work efficiently. And the criterion for quality work for a crematorium is the absence of confusion. In the words of the heroes of the article, “if Ivanov came, it means that they will give away Ivanov’s ashes.” For each deceased, something like a passport is created: on paper they indicate the name, age, date of death and time of cremation. Any movement of the coffin or ashes is possible only with this document.
10. After the cremation is completed, the data is recorded in a special journal.
11. “Here it all depends on the driver, how carefully he removes the remains,” Andrey continues the story. “Look how the deceased is raked out. There are only bones, the organic part is all burned. And then the ashes go to the crematorium, where the remaining calcium bones are ground in a ball mill. And this is what remains of a person.”
13. Ashes ground in a cremulator
Andrey shows us a container with fine powder. If you don’t try to turn events back and don’t imagine what this person was like in life, you can safely work. The driver pours the ashes into a special bag and attaches a “passport” to it. Then the “powder” goes to the ashes collection room, where the organizers will pack it into an urn and give it to the customer. Or they won’t give it to the customer, because he simply won’t come for it. Although this is a rare case, it is regularly repeated. Urns can wait for months for their relatives until crematorium workers start looking for those who ordered cremation and somehow forgot about it.
“The only thing that’s hard to get used to is child cremations.”
14. Every day, about 10-18 people are cremated in this workshop - with different destinies And life stories. Middle age The deceased, the drivers say, are about 60 years old. Usually they try not to go into the reasons for their death here. But when it comes to children, even the stern “stove-makers” change their faces. And the worst thing, according to men, is when they bring a child one year or older. Fortunately, such cases are few and far between.
15. Rest room for tough men
— I remember, I raked the little one, and among the ashes there was an iron machine (it didn’t burn. - TUT.BY). So I dreamed about her for a long time. It's racing. You get up at night, shed your sweat, go to the toilet and think, how could such a thing happen in a dream? The only thing that is difficult to get used to is child cremations. The first child who was cremated was a girl, she was one year old. Okay, there’s a newborn, but when he’s older... And you also see how the parents cry...
Money doesn't smell
Children are the only reason for stingy male sympathy. 22-year-old Alexander Kanonchik tries to reason dryly: “People are born, people die. What's the big deal? When he first started working at the crematorium, he was warned that people often come here for 2 weeks, and then they can’t stand it and leave.
16. In this matter, a very clear distinction between “work and home” is necessary, otherwise even an “above average” salary will not be able to calm you down. Machinists of ritual equipment earn about 7.5-8 million a month (approximately 27,700-29,700 rubles). “Money doesn’t smell,” the driver Andrey, who showed us the cremation procedure, hastens to remind us. Men are proud that lately dead people are brought to them even from Russia. Rumor spread that “everything is fair” with them.
17. Saying goodbye to the crematorium
“Goodbye,” they say a short phrase crematorium workers. “We hope that we will meet you very soon,” we answer and happily leave this, albeit curious, but sad place.
People usually don't like to talk about death. Plan own funeral when life is raging nearby, it seems illogical. But the human body, unfortunately, is not eternal. Sooner or later, relatives have to decide on the funeral of a deceased person. Modern industry burial offers several options at once.
Some people choose to turn their ashes into a diamond, become part of a coral reef, or even go to the moon after death. Increasingly, in the civilized world they are trying not to bury the body in the ground, but to cremate it. During this process, the corpse is burned at high temperature, even the bones become brittle and turn to ash. The tradition itself dates back to prehistoric times, but has become popular today.
Cremation is preferred because of the convenience of this option; it turns out to be both more practical and convenient. Yes, for many, the very burial in the ground with the subsequent decomposition of the body causes disgust. However, cremation still remains a mystery, gaining numerous myths that frighten people. It is worth debunking some of the most popular misconceptions about this procedure.
Cremation is cheaper than a regular funeral. Many people choose cremation as it is considered cheaper than a traditional burial ceremony. In fact, you can save money because there is no need to hold a public farewell ceremony with embalming of the body and an expensive coffin. In the West, cremation costs range from $600 to $1,000. In Russia, amounts are limited to thousands of rubles. But this quantity is not finite. Many people request a traditional embalming and burial ceremony prior to cremation. Often relatives want to bury cremated remains in a cemetery or columbarium. Farewell funeral services are held, which are also expensive due to flowers, food and memorable gifts. These additional services can ultimately make cremation even more expensive than a traditional funeral. If you try to minimize the budget, then burning the body will actually be cheaper. But when choosing the option of saying goodbye to a friend or close relative, people often do not think about money or simply fulfill the last will of the deceased.
Cremation is prohibited by major religions. It must be said that different religions have their own attitudes towards this procedure. You can often hear that cremation is prohibited in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Greek Catholic and protestant church insist on burying the body. It is believed that there will come a time in the future when the dead will be resurrected. But over time, the Catholic Church softened its demands. Cremation is now permitted after a requiem and the bishop's permission, although traditional burial is still considered preferable. But Orthodoxy takes a more rigid traditional position on this issue. Judaism is loyal to cremation, because this is a fairly ancient practice, which was followed by Jewish kings. In Islam, cremation is prohibited, as is embalming the body. This is considered disrespectful to the deceased. In Buddhism and Shintoism, cremation is considered acceptable. In Hinduism, cremation is one of the 16 rituals of life. It is believed that with its help the soul will leave the body more easily and can then find a new home. In any case, the practice is gradually gaining acceptance throughout the world, even in places where burial has traditionally been practiced.
Cremation is an environmentally friendly procedure. Whatever fans of this method of destroying the body may claim, it cannot be considered completely safe for the environment. We can only talk about saving space required for burial. Cremation requires burning fossil fuels, which can leave behind harmful chemicals. These may include carbon monoxide, nitrogen monoxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrofluoric acid and mercury. A solution to this problem could be the installation of filters in ventilation systems. This will reduce the impact on environment, but carbon emissions will still remain significant. An environmentally friendly alternative is bio-cremation, in which the remains are dissolved chemicals. To ensure truly clean smoke, you should not use special means for rapid combustion. Containers made of rubber or plastic can also produce toxic smoke.
Cremation leads to air pollution. Modern cremation ovens already meet all the most stringent air pollution requirements. Filters trap all hazardous elements. It is no coincidence that in the USA and Europe they are not afraid to place crematoria in centers major cities. And this myth does not contradict the previous one. Only the best modern equipment and careful adherence to regulations allows crematoria to remain environmentally friendly.
Cremation involves the destruction of the body by fire. This statement seems natural, so it is more interesting to refute it. During the cremation procedure, the body of the deceased is placed in a specially designed oven where it is exposed to very high temperatures. It shrinks the body by removing gases and softening the bones. Once this process is complete, the remaining fragments are machine processed, which reduces the body to ash. This substance is passed on to relatives. IN modern methods Cremation fire is not used, the destruction of the body has become a quick and simple process.
During cremation, the remains turn to ashes. Many people refer to cremation as turning the body into ashes. In fact, the remains are not ashes. They resemble small pebbles, which are bone fragments. After the body is exposed to extreme temperatures, the fluid evaporates and only parts of the bones remain. They are further processed in a high-speed blender-crusher. It turns bone remains into fine gravel, the texture and color of which resembles ash. This sand is placed in a temporary container so that it can be given to relatives.
Cremation involves avoiding a traditional funeral. For some reason, many people believe that cremating a loved one means abandoning the traditional farewell to him in an open coffin. In this regard, cremation is no different from a regular funeral. Relatives can conduct traditional farewell ceremonies for their loved ones by ordering any services accompanying the funeral. It is also possible to hold a memorial service.
The body is placed in a coffin for cremation. Even if you do not watch the human body being sent into the oven, it will still be placed in a special container. Relocation of the deceased from funeral home the crematorium is done in in better shape, as respectful as possible for such an occasion. And it is preferable to leave the body in a coffin. However, there are many forms of such a container. There is no reason to leave the body in an expensive coffin, which will not be visible during the entire procedure. The most economical container options are generally made of cardboard, and many crematoriums offer this option for free.
At the moment the body is burned, the head explodes, like an egg in a microwave. There is a common misconception that an intact head without wounds will simply explode during cremation. However, this legend was debunked by forensic experts who specifically observed the burning of several dozen bodies, wanting to debunk the myth. And the legend itself appeared thanks to firefighters. They often found bone fragments of victims' skulls separate from the body. In fact, the bones of the head have thin areas in some places, becoming brittle when exposed to fire. These fragments can be separated from the skulls by falling or water jets from pumps.
All that remains of a person after cremation is a pinch of ashes. Complete burning of the average body lasts 2-3 hours. After this, from one and a half to 4 kilograms of ashes remain. There is no need to talk about a “pinch”. The weight of the remains depends on the structure of the bone tissue and body volume. But light newborn babies don’t even have bones yet, only cartilage. There may be nothing left of them after cremation.
When cremated, the body does not require embalming. Embalming is usually not required. But if you are planning long-distance transportation of the body to the cremation site or a long farewell ceremony, then it is better to turn to embalming.
For cremation, it is necessary to purchase an urn for the remains. After the cremation procedure, the ashes of a loved one are returned to his relatives in a temporary container. What to do next is up to them to decide for themselves. An urn is a common solution, although there are many other options for placing ashes. They pour it into the sea (in America there is even certain standards, establishing distance from the shore), placed in reefs, sent into space and turned into decoration. Modern cemeteries allow the remains of a loved one to be placed in a columbarium, individual memorial, family crypt, or alcoves. Since ashes are non-toxic, there are no restrictions on the type of container used.
The cremation procedure for animals is completely different than for humans. The pet cremation process is virtually identical to what is offered for humans. Usually a veterinarian is involved in organizing the process, but you can also directly contact a crematorium that specializes in working with animals.
Cremation is a rare procedure. Today, cremation is becoming increasingly popular in large cities where there are obvious problems with land. Even in St. Petersburg and Moscow, 50-70% of the dead are cremated. This method is also popular in the West. It is believed that soon every second death in the world will be cremated.
In the crematorium, several bodies are sent to the oven at a time. Some relatives are openly afraid that they will be close person will be cremated at the same time as someone else. This may result in mixing of ashes. However, this contradicts everything existing rules. Moreover, most ovens are not designed to process more than one body at a time. Sometimes relatives, on the contrary, want the two bodies to be cremated together. But here we can only recommend a special urn for storing the ashes of two people at once.
A body or organs that have been in the morgue for a long time can no longer be cremated. Such a body can also be cremated. The cold stopped the decomposition process and the body seemed to be mummified for a while. And cremation will be even better, since the tissues will be dry and burn better. Cremation and exhumed remains are successfully carried out.
The cremation procedure cannot be seen. Most crematoria offer this service, but on a paid basis and in the case of a person’s involvement in a specific funeral. No one can just come and watch a stranger being burned without a good reason. The crematorium offers relatives a special room in which they can observe the process.