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This ceremony occurs three times per week in the city of Litang, China.
The lack of burning wood, at 4.000m altitude, makes cremation impossible and the locals have found an alternative way to free the bodies from earth once the soul has departed.
The vultures, accustomed by years of practice, only gather those three days of the week, performing a surreal cooperation between man and nature.

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A few Buddhist Monks supervise the ritual, as the birds start to gather up

The master of ceremony starts preparing the body

The scalp is removed

Cuts are opened in the flesh, to facilitate the vulture’s work

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Meanwhile, the birds patiently wait nearby

When the body is finally ready and tied to a stake, the vultures gather on it

In less than ten minutes all the flesh will be disposed

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A few steps aways, the Monks are witnessing the rite

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As the vultures feast, the master of ceremony prepares for the hardest part of the task

Not everything is taken care of by the birds

He will have to smash with an axe the entire remaining skeleton

The endeavour will take nearly one hour of hard work

The skull is crushed too

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The same axe is used both to smash and grind

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The remainings, once torn to pieces, are mixed with flour, and later fed to the birds

One daring bird approaches as the others still wait for the master to finish

Ready for more