Cremations

Cremations

Katmandu, Nepal

November 2017

The first time I came to this site was in 1999.  I was with a group and our tour guide would not let us go any further out of respect for the moment.  There were several cremations going on this day. The moment intrigued me.

I returned to Katmandu in 2017 and I told me Nepali friend that I had been here before but had to keep my distance out of respect for the dead.  She was surprised by that and couldn't understand this mandate from my previous guide.

So she took me here for the afternoon and encouraged me to get as close as I wanted. She went across the river and laid down on a bench and took a nap.  I sat close to a family who were cremating a grandmother. I didn't see any outward demonstration of grief or sadness.  It seemed more like they were in a hurry to get the task down.

I later learned that this sense of hurry was a reflection of their desire to allow the grandmother to begin the process of reincarnation. She couldn't start this rebirth until her body left this earth. And so, this afternoon, she was now free to return.