Self service crematorium in Kathmandu

---

(I warn in advance - this post is not for the faint-hearted!)
In one of the mornings we woke up really early, something like 6:30, and went to Pashupatinath temple. It's an important Hindu temple and maybe it's beautiful inside - I can't tell because only Hindus are allowed in. But the Bagmati river bank right next is the city's "crematorium". It's not a building or anything like that. There are 6 square "altars" (well they look like that) on the river bed and around them stairs going down. There is no "hevra kadisha" or a company responsible for the cremation. It's a self service business. We got to watch 2 "funerals", sitting at the other river bank so we don't interrupt too much. The first guy was probably important or at least very popular. A big party of people walked behind the stretcher carriers. After some preparations, they carried him to the "altar" where a large pile of logs was already waiting. They circled the pile a few times and laid the body there. They put some red color on his face, and then one of them lit a torch, brought it close to the dead man's face, and started the cremation - yes he actually put him on fire. It wasn't a very pleasant sight. I don't envy the person who's actually doing that, as I suppose he was close to the deceased. Afterwards somebody has to stay there for a few hours to take care of the fire until the entire body is burnt.
The second guy we've seen was brought by 4 people only. It seemed to me a sad funeral. The party was very young and they seemed a bit lost in the situation. Eventually somebody helped them, and they performed the same ritual.
It wasn't an enjoyable event to watch, but I found it really interesting as a part of visiting a totally different culture.

---