In many cases in the Buddhist religion, male members of the family will undergo a ceremony in the days leading up to the funeral to become monks for the sole purpose of escort the body during funerals and cremation. The purpose of monks escorting the body of the deceased is for spiritual figures to help guide the deceased until they are removed from their material body. In Hinduism, the escorts of a coffin will usually be the eldest male relative as well as another male elder. The cremation process follows the strict guidelines of Hindu religions. Participants will pray, then the eldest male relative will walk around the body in the final stage of preparation for cremation. Cremation will always be done feet first in Hindu tradition, generally pointing south, towards the reality of their god of death. Cremation is much stricter than that of the Buddhist tradition, in the Hindu tradition it is inappropriate for women to attend the ceremony.