Unusual cremation leaves woman’s skull intact in Thai temple

An unusual incident occurred at Wat Wang Boraphet in Uthai Thani province, where the skull of Jamrus Pachuthai, an 80 year old woman, remained almost intact after her cremation, while the rest of her body turned to ashes. This peculiar event took place at 4.30pm yesterday (January 8).

The abbot of the temple, Phra Khru Uthitthamakhun, recounted that after the cremation ceremony, a temple assistant was preparing the ashes for a merit-making ceremony. They were surprised to find the skull of Jamrus almost fully preserved amidst the ashes. The abbot speculated that this could be due to her regular acts of merit-making during her lifetime, resulting in this unusual phenomenon.

Sakorn Pachuthai, Jamrus’s husband, also expressed his surprise at the sight of the skull amid the ashes. He described it as if someone had placed the skull in the middle of the ashes, with the eye sockets and mouth still intact despite the flames. He added that his wife had been a strong woman who regularly visited the temple to make merit.

On the day the ashes were brought home, Sakorn related a strange occurrence. As the ashes were being carried into the house, dogs around the house started howling, alarming their daughter and leading her to wonder if her mother had returned.

Residents who heard about the incident came to see the skull. They all agreed that they had never seen anything like this before, especially considering that four sacks of charcoal were used for the cremation, compared to the usual three sacks for other cremations, reported Sanook.

In an interesting twist, some locals, who are lottery enthusiasts, decided to use Jamrus’s age, birth date (B.E. 2487), and death date (January 2, B.E. 2567) as lottery numbers for the draw on January 17, hoping that this strange event might bring them luck.