Rare term for a stand or frame on which a coffin or corpse is placed. Not commonly used in everyday conversation; more often encountered in historical or literary contexts.
At the funeral, the coffin was placed on a bier.
Compound of 棺 (kan, 'coffin') and 架 (ka, 'rack' or 'frame'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the kanji components directly reflect the meaning.