pyres
Cremation wood stacks
Pyres is the plural of pyre, a heap of combustible material—typically wood—for burning a dead body as part of a funeral rite.
The image of flames consuming the dead carries strong associations with ancient and Hindu traditions: Smoke rose from the funeral pyres along the riverbank.
Figuratively, pyres evoke destruction or sacrifice.
Service honoring the dead
- ashesBurned matter's residue
- burningCombustion in progress
- flamesVisible burning combustion
- incinerationBurning waste to ash
fire · embers · smoke · ash · remains · mourning · bereavement · shroud
Formal event marking occasions
- sacrificeGiving up something precious
- offeringSomething presented or given
- altarSacred ritual table
- ritesFormal ceremonial acts
sacred · priest · incense · chanting · veneration · consecrate · sanctify · Viking funeral
funeral
Service honoring the dead
incineration · fire · embers · smoke · ash · remains · mourning · bereavement · shroud · widow
ceremony
Formal event marking occasions
rites · sacred · priest · incense · chanting · veneration · consecrate · sanctify · Viking funeral · Varanasi
remembrance
Act of holding something in mind
- tributeOffering of respect
- eulogyTribute for the dead
- commemorationAct of honoring memory
honor · legacy · ancestors · martyrs · heroes · fallen · symbolic · effigy · bonfire · Guy Fawkes
- burial customsburial, burial rites, burials, burial customs, tombs
- witch huntswitch trials, witch hunt, witch hunts, Salem witch trials, Salem trials
- tombstombs, burial vault, burial chamber, mausoleum, graves
- sacred firesacred flame, sacred fire, fire worship, fire ritual, fire rituals
pyresmummification
Preserving bodies after death
embalming · sarcophagi · preservation · cryonics · reliquaries
- funeral pyreOutdoor body-burning structure