Cremations and a Hindu Festival

Sorry for not posting anything for awhile, but classes started this week at Kathmandu University and I’ve been busy preparing lectures. Now that the semester has started, I’ll probably be posting something every week instead of every few days.

About a week and a half ago, while I was at home working, Bonnie went to the Pashupatinath temple and cremation area which is just a mile east of our apartment. It is located on the Bhagmati River, a Nepali tributary of the Ganges River in India – the holiest river in the Hindu religion. Because of this, I was told that at least 50% of all cremations in Kathmandu are held on the banks of the Bhagmati.

When Bonnie arrived, she was approached by a very pleasant young Nepali man named Kabrindra who is finishing up his Master’s degree in history at Tribhuvan University. He told her that his American advisor, who now lives in Nepal, told him to use his knowledge of Nepali history to make money by guiding foreigners at World Heritage Sites, of which there are many in Kathmandu. Bonnie told him upfront that she was only carrying a few hundred rupees ($3) and wouldn’t be able to compensate him very well for his time, but he said it didn’t matter. He then proceeded to give her a wonderful two-hour tour of the cremation and temple areas.

There were not many people around that day, but there were some cremations going on at various stages of completion. One would expect there to be an odor, but there was absolutely none. Raised rectangular blocks of cement on the edge of the river were used for the cremations, and various ones were reserved for people from different castes (priest, military, business, and untouchable). One was strictly reserved for members of the royal family.

Small pyres were constructed out of teak wood where the bodies were laid. The remains of one body were still smoldering while another family had just begun the rituals of preparing a man’s body. Kabrindra told Bonnie that it takes 2 ½ hours for a man’s body to burn to ash while it takes at least 3 hours for a woman’s body which has a higher percentage of water and fat. After the cremation the ashes are simply swept into the river.

The cremation ritual Bonnie observed was very intricate and included washing the body, wrapping it in a white sheet, carrying the body three times around the funeral pyre, and applying colored dyes. Several blocks of wood were stacked on the body. Before the pyre was ignited, a flaming bundle of straw was briefly touched to the mouth of the deceased since that is where the first and last breaths are drawn. Family members did not appear to be distraught and did not take issue with Bonnie photographing the proceedings. During the cremation the family does not shed tears since those are thought to wash away the spirit of the deceased.

Kabrindra then took Bonnie to other parts of the temple property, including a series of shrines dedicated to Shiva. He also showed her a rocky cliff just upstream of the temple where Hindu holy men live in caves, coming out only very early each morning to pray. Bonnie gave Kabrindra many opportunities to cut the tour short, but he was having a good time, too. He told her the next day was the festival of Janai Purnima (Sacred Thread) where Hindu priests tie a few small threads around your wrist to ward off disease. He gave her his cell phone number in case she wanted to come back.

After coming home and showing me all her cool photos, I agreed to go back with her the next day. When we arrived around 7:30am she called Kabrindra. He was already there and found us within a few minutes. He took us in through a side entrance to avoid the 200 rupee entrance fee (he said it only went into the pockets of bureaucrats, not for upkeep of the temple). We came out at the cremation area. There were none going on at the time, but there were a few men there who had returned to acknowledge the 1-year anniversary of a family member’s cremation.

Unlike the day before, the temple plaza and the banks of the river were packed. Kabrindra repeated some of the explanations to me that he had given Bonnie earlier. Then he took us to an enclosed courtyard where some Hindu priests lived under thatched roofs. They looked like hermits, wearing little clothing and sporting hair that had not been cut for many years. Kabrindra said we were allowed to take photographs of them but it would be expected to give them a small donation of 20 rupees. Bonnie got a great photo of one of them. Kabrindra said that these were the “true” Hindu holy men. The ones that dress up in bright robes, paint their faces and nag tourists for donations (see my “Streets of Kathmandu” posting for a photo of one) are just “costumed beggars” who should be ignored.

We proceeded up some steep stairs to a less crowded area with small shrines. Monkeys were plentiful. On the way up the stairs, one of them darted into the crowd and snatched a bag of chips from a surprised teenage boy! Another gave a false charge at Bonnie when she passed by a little too closely. The monkeys are not really big (about the size of a big cat), but they have some sharp canine teeth that could do some damage if they latched onto your face!

There were many Hindu priests, some very old and some only novices no older than 10, who were sitting in the temple plaza tying the sacred thread around people’s wrists and then dabbing a combination of red and yellow dyes mixed with rice paste onto their foreheads. Bonnie squatted in front of a young novice for her thread and dye. Kabrindra suggested that I give him 30 rupees (less than 50 cents) to help him pay for his religious studies. The holy boy who said his name was "Sam" seemed very pleased with the donation.

We passed by a small statue of the elephant-headed god Ganesha who rides around on a rat as his conveyance. Shiva, his father, rides on a bull. There were many stone carvings of bulls in repose waiting on their master to return. Hindu legend says that Ganesha (in human form) was guarding the entrance to his mother’s (Shiva’s wife’s) cave while she was meditating. Shiva returned after a long absence, not even knowing that the boy was his own son. When the son refused to allow Shiva entrance, Shiva cut off his head. When his wife informed him of his mistake, Shiva said that he would replace his son’s head with the head of the first animal that he saw and thereby bring him back to life. Guess which animal came along first?

The last thing we looked at before leaving was a small temple that was once used for human sacrifice thousands of years ago. On it were engravings of skeletons and even some sexy scenes from the Kama Sutra. Monkeys lounged on the carvings, oblivious to their meaning.

We took leave of Kabrindra after nearly two hours, but not before slipping him 1000 rupees ($15). A small price to pay for such a wonderful tour and probably more than he expected. But we have a soft spot for students working their way through school, especially those with a wife and 4-year-old daughter to feed.