Name of Ritual

Storing the ashes and installing the niche 拾骨, 安灵

Description of Ritual/Practice

• Ashes can be collected after 2 hours of cremation, depending on timing (same day collection if cremation is done before 12noon, otherwise, the ashes will be collected the following day)
• Rritual specialists will chant sutras, and a set of coins are placed at the bottom of the urn. Family members are instructed to pick up pieces of bones (starting from the leg and ending with part of the skull) to help the deceased stay ‘upright’ in the urn. The funeral undertaker will assist the family members to transfer the ashes to the urn. The order in which this is done is based on age and rank in the family – starting from eldest son then daughters, nieces and nephews and so on and so forth.
• The urn and the incense pot with incense (used at the funeral wake) is wrapped in yellow cloth and carried by the eldest child/son to the niche. A paper umbrella is used to shelter the urn because the deceased cannot be exposed to the sun.

Who practices it? Who conducts the ritual?

Family Members, ritual specialists such as the nam mo lo and Buddhist monks, and crematorium staff

Is it still practiced now?

Unlike their counterparts in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Chinese community in Singapore do not choose specific date and time for cremation. However, some families do request for an auspicious date and time to store the urn and install a niche at the columbarium.