Wow what a culture shock!! Absolutely awesome that the people will share their culture with strangers!! To be able to observe their burial rituals was truly an honour! I will never forget the monks, the cries of the people morning and the insense burning in the air. Truly a holy place! Was an honour to visit.
Normally you go a crematorium when a close family member or friend passed away. In the West and also in some Asian metropolis, the affair is quick--dead person looks alive in a coffin, passed through an entry to electric oven and ashes collected in an urn. Whereas in the East including Pashupati/Bagmati open cremation ghats, one got to stand for hours until the body is fully consumed by fire--smell of flesh and cracking of bones, you are transported to a different plane. At that moment you get a different feeling about life. What's the point of family, riches, power, ego if you cannot escape death "Masan Vairagya" lasting from few minutes to days for some. Byapta
I feel awkward "rating" a crematoria; but that's what I'm supposed to do here.
We visited while we were in Kathmandu. It is a long walk from the parking lot to the River where the Crematoria are located.
Families burn the bodies of their deceased (special people are hired to do this) and the family waits while it takes place. The fire is amazing, and the watchers are absolutely silent. It is something I would never see in North America or Europe, but it is a respectful treatment of the beloved dead.
For the Pashupati and the crematorium we took a guide who was just at the entrance, where you pay the fee. Absolutely to recommend is Ananta! He told us a lot about the crematorium, the animal sacrifices and other Hindu traditons. As european for me it was fascinating but a bit shocking to see how the bodies were burned in public. But it's interesting to see how other cultures handle with the death. The temple cannot enter as a non-Hindu. So we could only see it from the outside.
it was my first time to see to see this ceremony and i was really astonished by the too much rituals and ceremonies they do before they get the dead bodies burned.
i wish for you luck when you go as we were lucky when we went, we could find three dead bodies, because it happens that in some days nobody dies!
it was a very new culture to me and i could deeply sympathize with the families and their culture... the dead body should stay a while barefooted by the edge of the river and they water it from the water of this river... then it is moved to the place where it is getting burned and the family comes to say goodbye and the last member of the family is his wife... after thy decorate the body with flowers and some red powder and his sons keep going around and the eldest is the one to put the flame.... many many details... it is a must see attraction, you will need almost an hour to see the beginning of the cremation and a whole day if you want to finish the whole thing because the process of burning takes a long time as the body and the shroud are very humid because of the river water they keep pouring on them, i guess
if it is a sunny day, take umbrella and water with you
