The lost ritual of ‘smoking’ bodies in Ao Naga last rites

Known for its headhunting legacy and the “festival of festivals”- the Horn Bill Festival, Nagaland is a land that often captures attention with its striking cultural tales. Yet, beyond these familiar narratives lies a lesser-known practice – a ritual from the past that speaks of profound beliefs about life, death, and the journey beyond. Before Christian missionaries carried their crosses and preached a message that would transform entire communities, the Ao Nagas had their own way of honouring the dead.



In those days, when a person died, their body was not buried in the earth, nor left to rest quietly in the tomb. Instead, it was laid in a special room in the house – the Chin or Tsen – where it would be smoked for days. This area, located at the entrance of the house, resembled a store room, a place where people kept their rice, bamboo mats, and various other tools. Linked to their worship of Lijaba, the creator deity, this practice was believed to ensure a safe passage for the departed into the afterlife.


The lifeless body would remain in the Chin or Tsen for several days, smoked over a fire, and left to decompose. Women’s bodies were kept for five days, while men’s bodies were kept for six. The Ao Nagas believed that women had five souls, while men possessed six, and this difference in the number of souls explained the variance in the duration of the mourning period. 


One of the most intriguing aspects of the Ao Naga death ritual was their belief in the physical process of decay. As the body began to decompose, a natural process that would attract flies and cause bloating, the Aos held a belief that added a sense of sacredness and urgency to the ritual. If, during the decomposition process, the body failed to explode with a loud “bang!” as the bloating reached its peak, it was considered a dire omen. Such an occurrence was believed to signal a bad fate for the family of the deceased – an event that could bring misfortune or curses upon them.
 

Each evening at sunset, the spouse of the deceased performed a ritual. They walked around the lifeless body – five times for a woman and six for a man. This ritual was repeated daily for the duration of the smoking period. As putrefaction set in, another significant practice followed. The surviving spouse would bow and dip their head into the fluid seeping from the body. This act, familiarly uncanny to an outsider, was believed to transfer the blessings of the dead to the living.


Speaking to India Today NE, Imlimerem Kichu, a Mongsen speaker from Mokokchung district’s Khensa village, explains, “After a family member passes away, the relatives take a ritual bath in a stream or river within a day or two. Following the Likho period, which lasts five to six days of mourning, a tradition called Chasu takes place, where the departed person’s life story, lifestyle, wealth, properties, debts, and any dues owed to them are shared orally.”


After the full mourning period, which could last anywhere from five to six days, the body would be prepared for the final part of the ritual. It would be placed on a ‘mangsa’, a bamboo platform designed to hold the deceased, and wrapped in a ‘pakti’, a bamboo mat. This bamboo platform would be positioned in an isolated, forbidden place known as Genna, a site that was off-limits to the living. The site was believed to hold spiritual significance, marked by the wild and untamed forces of nature. 


The body, now prepared, would be left to the elements, where it would become part of the natural cycle of life and death – fodder for wild animals and the scavengers of the forest. The Genna site was a sacred space, reserved solely for the deceased and forbidden for the living. It was a symbol of the separation between the world of the living and the realm of the dead. Once the body was placed in this forbidden space, the mourning rituals were considered complete, and the soul of the dead was believed to have moved on to the afterlife. 


The traditions of smoking the dead body, a practice that might sound strange to modern ears but one that was deeply symbolic, and observing lengthy mourning periods have faded in favour of simpler prayer services.A native of the state, KumsangkalaLongukumershared,“The exact time when the practice of smoking the dead stopped is unclear, but it is believed that the ritual faded away around the 1800s, likely due to the influence of Christianity and other cultural shifts.” (translated by Longukumer’s grand-son)