Pashupatinaath (This entry includes a description of a public cremation)

Pashupatinaath is Nepal’s most important Hindu Temple. Many Hindu people request to be brought here in their dying days, as they believe ending their life here will secure them a place in heaven. A huge residential building looks out over the Holy Bagmati River, and it is outside of here that the bodies are cremated.

First shrouded with marigolds, they are then placed on wooden plinths at the side of the river, covered in hay, and set alight. This is the responsibility of the eldest son, another reason why giving birth to a son is so important. The fire is stoked until all that remains is a pile of black ash which is then swept up and swashed away into the water below. Body on, body burnt, ashes brushed away – The cycle repeats, making me contemplate our mortality and the reality of how temporary we are. Looking up and down the river I see children playing in the polluted water, men washing their naked bodies and people even drinking it. The river is awash with man-made remains and remains of man, yet no matter how dirty the water is, for them it is still holy.

It is hard to pinpoint just how I feel. Before today, cremating someone in public had seemed so disrespectful. Yet the surroundings of Pashupathi are peaceful, and the air holds an unspoken respect and love for those who have died here. Saying that, I can’t help but feel like an intruder as the temple holds no connections or deep-rooted religious meaning to me. I am watching the funeral of someone’s else’s loved one and am troubled by tourists who act with insensitivity and disregard; taking their photos in front of the burning pyres and watching on whilst greedily munching their food, as if popcorn at the movies.