Karelian clothes of the deceased

In Karelia, the deceased were clothed in homespun, light linen fabric. Later, the clothes were made of factory-made linen. The woman’s outfit included garments named ‘rätsinä’ and ‘kosto’ as well as two pieces of headgear, a ‘sorokka’ and ‘kukkeli’. According to folklore, one of the headgears was taken off at the Gate of the Last Judgment. For deceased males, the garments included a shirt made of a similar fabric and a ‘kauhtana’ robe. A ‘kukkeli’ was placed on their head. The belt was made of yarn, a brass ‘oprasa’ was placed on top of the chest and a rosary was also included. In order to make it as easy as possible for the deceased to move to the afterlife, knots were not made on the yarns when sewing the clothes.

SU4905:5-6, 8-10. Photo: Matti Huuhka, 2010.