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Brooklyn is home to a Sherpa community from Nepal, many of whom practice Buddhism at a monastery on Gold St. in DUMBO. Funeral wakes held there consist in part in making offerings of food to the Buddha in the name of the deceased and then, at the end of the day, redistributing the food to all who attend the ceremony. Many folk funery customs involve foodways as a source of balance and relationship between the living and the dead. Photo: Kay Turner, 2005 
Days of the Dead Examples
Brooklyn is home to a Sherpa community from Nepal, many of whom practice Buddhism at a monastery on Gold St. in DUMBO. Funeral wakes held there consist in part in making offerings of food to the Buddha in the name of the deceased and then, at the end of the day, redistributing the food to all who attend the ceremony. Many folk funery customs involve foodways as a source of balance and relationship between the living and the dead. Photo: Kay Turner, 2005 
Another part of the Sherpa Buddhist funeral includes lighting candles to honor the recently deceased and his/her ancestors. Photo: Kay Turner, 2005
After the funeral ceremony, food presented in honor of the dead is redistributed to members of the community. Phurba Sherpa is seen here preparing to distribute bags of food to guests as they leave the monastery. Photo: Kay Turner, 2005