This place is one of the holiest hindu sites in the world, outside India, dedicated to the God Shiva (one of the holy trinity, the god of destruction). The temple complex, the centre of which non-hindus are forbidden to enter, lies along the holy river Bagmati. This river, although sacred, still bears a striking resemblence to all the other rivers i have seen that carry their heavy burden of human waste off to India. Here though on the day of a hindu's death they must be purified in the waters by the male members of the family, then carried to the cremation ghats (stone outcroppings) and put on 35lbs of wood smeared with ghee (fortified butter). The family having carried the body around the pyre 3 times clockwise, then leave it to the eldest son to
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