To receive a new information about the culture and expend my understanding about life, I was willing to embrace the discomforts of unfamiliar surrounding. I wanted to experience an open air cremations at Pashupatinath Temple.
Holy river
Earthquake Gorkha
November 10, 2019
Happy street
November 22, 2019STORIES OF NEPAL
open air cremations at Pashupatinath Temple
Following the smoke and the inconvenient smell brought me to the secret holy Bagmati River bank, which is the ultimate place and wish for Hindu to be cremated.
The Bagmati River runs into the holy Ganges river in India making it a place of worship through Nepal.
Either Hindus or Buddhists believe in reincarnation and that one’s actions in life will grant a passage to a higher rebirth, the soul is immortal and the body is only a shell to hold the spirit.
I set on the river bank, trying to look unseen, quietly observing an open air cremation process.
The family of a deceased noticed me, but going through such a sorrow, thankfully I haven’t been seriously acknowledged nor bothering the procession.
After washing the deceased, the body was wrapped in to a cotton cloth leaving only the head uncovered.
The white cloth is said to be a symbol of peace and the orange cloth a symbol of reincarnation.
Usually the family’s oldest son walks around the wooden funeral pyre three times, bow and kisses the deceased’s feet which is the ultimate sign of respect in Nepali culture.
They lighten the kindling near the head of the deceased as Hindu’s believe the person’s spirit is freed through the mouth.
After approximately four hours the remains are scattered into the river.
Relatives of the deceased also join in the funeral procession by bathing in the river or by sprinkling the holy water on their bodies after the cremation.
When the 11 day mourning period starts family is prohibited from eating certain vegetables and meat wearing pure white clothes.
Looking at the photos and reading texts about the Hindu cremations on the Holi river is one thing, while witnessing a ceremony of a deceased is a completely different chapter, challenging.
It forces you to step out of the bubble.
The real education and understanding the culture happens outside the classroom.