Bodies burning in Kathmandu

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We are back in Kathmandu now, waiting for our Indian visas. we'll be here for a few days, so we're doing some shopping and sightseeing around town. today kim went shopping for pashminas and carpets and other nepali stuff, and i went to the pashupatinath temple. it is a hindu temple located along the bagmati river. hindus are cremated when they die, and the bagmati river is sacred, so pashupatinath is the spot for nepalis to get cremated.

I'll try to describe the scene the best i can. its very strange. there is a cluster of small temples along the river. the river is barely shin deep, and maybe twenty feet wide. its more of a big muddy creek, really. the temples are all on one side of the river, and so are stone steps that lead into the water, along with six or seven stone platforms used for cremations. when i was there today i saw about six people brought up and placed on these platforms. bodies are brought here soon after they die, like about five or six hours. an ambulence drives right up and unloads the body, and the family members are right behind. some hindu guys from the temple are in charge of making a pile of wood, and then the body, wrapped in an orange shroud, is placed on bed sized woodpile. the mouth is filled with incense, and the family piles scarves and flowers on the body. then they walk around the body in a circle a few times. the worker in charge of all this throws all the flowers and scarves into the river, covers the body with hay, and lights the fire. then the family takes off.

but the part that was so crazy was not the burning bodies, but everything else going on at the same time. a couple guys were standing below the platforms in the water searching for gold in the muddy bottom. gold teeth or jewelry that couldn't be removed. after the cremation is finished, the workers push all the ashes and remaining firewood into the river. the firewood floats down just a few yards before it's fished out of the water by some other guys to be resold and reused. on top of this, women are doing laundry, other people are bathing, and there's a full on soccer game going on with the teenagers across the river. there are cows mooing and familys of monkeys running around scaring people with their hisses. and believe it or not, there are groups of tourists across the river with telephoto lens cameras zooming in on the burning bodies and crying family members. there are kids trying to sell water and souveniers, and sadhus, wandering dreadlocked holymen, who are posing for pictures while they smoke pot in an awkward balancing position for five bucks.

i was watching this scene unfold, and some of the cremations had thirty or forty family members show up, all upset and stuff. then some of the bodies were just delivered by an ambulence and dropped off alone. but regardless of how powerful, how loved, how rich they were, they all burned the same way. and their ashes were all pushed into the river the same way. they didn't get to take anything or anybody with them. it was a strange, sobering day.

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Comments

[Alanna]

Is everything all right?
Hey....how are you? I have noticed it has been a while since you entered much....is everything OK?

[geneva]

hey kimbob... this is my first time reading all your blogs...in one sitting! i don't know if it's because i am slightly technologically challenged or that i didn't realize you had a blog... whatever the case, you both write so eloquently...bobby, this entry i felt like i was sitting there with you guys, watching this whole scene... bravo to you two! it's nice to escape the day to day here and jump on a rickshaw or watch a crazy monkey family ;) miss you guys! xox