Monkey Forest and Funeral

After some morning yoga classes we went for lunch and had planned to visit the Monkey Forest. David, who we met the day before at the Embodied Connection class, joined us and just as we were heading into the forest a local funeral parade passed by us and into the forest. Apparently, aside from housing on thousand plus monkeys, it is also the sacred place for the local villagers where they host funerals. The parade was regaling all sorts of offerings and the body was being carried in a sort of altar.

The walk through Monkey Forest was absolutely stunning as we walked through ancient trees growing around a riverbed, moss-filled statues of hindu gods as well as temples. However, only entering the forest we were greeted with the sight of cheeky monkeys running around doing minding their as well as others' businness. What an experience to observe these creatures' behaviour, so similar to ours! The females eating fleas of the males while they lounge about, babies being carried and breastfed by their mothers, the large males marking their turf, the young ones being mischievous, etc.

At the end of our Monkey Forest walk he stumbled upon the funeral party honouring their recently deceased member being cremated along with all the offerings. Having a 4 day mourning tradition, it seemed everyone had quite come to grips with this passing as there seemed to be no dramatic crying or sadness in the air.
I was surprised by how at ease they were with tourists walking about and partaking in this intimate affair.Lue lisää