Children playing in the Bagmati River (close to Pashupatinath Temple)


A body being prepared to be cremated...


Nepali tradition of burning the bodies of dead people...



No, the two body painted people from the picture are not members of my host family. They are actually considered saints who live in Pashupathinath Temple - the place where Nepali people who reside in the Kathmandu Valley burn the bodies of their dead relatives. So, on Saturday (June 13th, 2009) Josephine and I decided to go see the Monkey Temple (Swoyambhu Nath Stupa) and since we were determined to use public transportation we ended up in another temple - the one with the burning ceremonies.

When we arrived there we saw several monkeys playing around and we immediately thought that we are at the right place but by the time I figured that that was a mistake I already saw two bodies being prepared to be burned.

If it was my choice to see that...I would rather skip that privilege but oh, well.....I was there and I saw it by accident, so now I feel the urge to speak about it. One of the bodies was of a young girl from a lower caste and the other one was of a man from the caste Chettri.

I respect their traditions but I don't agree with how things are done here. It is so unhygienic and since this ceremony is done right on the banks of the Bagmati River (more like a little pond than a river) there were some kids swimming and playing in the dirty water......together with the ashes and everything else that I even don't want to attempt to describe…

But then again.....it is what it is.....this is their life and I take it as it is and I just have to fight my inner desire to see change in such things for the better...