How did the practice of burning dead bodies start in Hinduism?

A dead adult Hindu is mourned with a cremation, while a dead child is typically buried. The rite of passage is performed in harmony with the Hindu religious view that the microcosm of all living beings is a reflection of a macrocosm of the universe. read more

Later on it is covered. In Hinduism too the same practice is followed for the children who die before five years. The popular belief is that when a person dies the body starts to decay. In the olden days when people saw death for the first time they did not know what to do with the dead body that starts smelling in no time. This is exactly why they would dig graves and put the bodies to rest. read more