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In May 2001, I traveled around Nepal for two weeks. We walked around Kathmandu, visited temples, and fought off the monkeys that chased us.  One afternoon as I walked near the Bagmati River, I heard loud wailing surround me as a funeral procession slowly made its way towards the water. The dead body was carried above them on a mat; flowers and white sheets covered the body. The crowd wailed their way to the river, and they lit the body on fire. Hair and flesh burned, a bonfire blazed in the daylight. To be honest, I was kind of terrified, but I was trying hard to appreciate the sacredness of the ceremony.

Hindus believe that burning the body releases the spirit, and the flames represent the creator. They believe that touching a person’s body after death pollutes them. Family and friends will gather near the body immediately after the death to pray over it, even though they can’t touch it. Then the dead body is often paraded through the streets of the city, to places that were important to the person while he or she was living. Most traditional Hindus believe in reincarnation, that the spirit moves on to another body, so the funeral is often a celebration of a new beginning as well as a memorial for the deceased.

According to Hindu tradition, they must dip the corpse in the Bagmati River three times before cremating it. After they say their prayers, they dump the charcoaled remains into the river. The Bagmati is considered holy (by Hindus and Buddhists alike) and mourners often bathe in the holy river or sprinkle it on them after the cremation. Further downstream women collected river water in jugs. Two little boys kicked a ball around and it fell down into the river. One of the boys ran splashing into the river to retrieve it.

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