Many people were gathered by the waterside of the Bagmati River, which flows beside the Pashupatinath Temple. In the center of the crowd was a coffin. A funeral was being held. The lid of the coffin, which had been brought from inside the temple, was opened and the body was being cleansed with the water of the holy river.
The purified body would then be placed by the riverside and burned over a wood fire. Hindus, who were not in the habit of making graves, would finish by pouring the ashes into the holy river after the body was burned. In no time at all, all traces of the deceased's life are gone from this world. However, as if there were some unfinished business in this world, a person's body does not burn easily with firewood.
Feb 2010 NEPAL PEOPLE | |
CROWD FUNERAL HINDUISM PASHUPATINATH RIVER |
No
3666
Shooting Date
Jul 2009
Posted On
February 6, 2010
Modified On
July 1, 2024
Place
Kathmandu, Nepal
Genre
Street Photography
Camera
CANON EOS 1V
Lens
EF85MM F1.2L II USM