Kathmandu Temples

For USD$75, we hired a car & driver to take us around Kathmandu for a few hours before our flight. It just happened to be a festival day, so we got to observe people making offerings and having a more leisurely day.

It was fun watching the monkeys scamper around but the most surprising experience was seeing in-progress open-air cremations along the river. Piles of wood on concrete platforms that they place the body upon and tend for the 4-5hrs it takes to turn to ashes, which are then pushed into the river.

A few things we we learned about the Hindu faith:
• the body must be cremated the same day it dies
• when death is imminent (hours), the person is taken to the temple near the river (If they don’t die, they are considered reborn and given a new name)
• women are not allowed to attend the cremation as they are present for the beginning of life and the cremation is about the end of life
• male blood relatives (generally sons) shave all their hair off (even eyebrows) and must remain hairless for a full year
• immediate blood relatives must wear all white for a full year after the death (when I asked why I hadn’t seen anyone in all white, our guide said people rarely go out because if they get any color on their white clothes, they must restart the year of mourning 😳)
• all of the deceased’s belongings are sold or given away
• anyone living in the deceased’s home, must leave and live in special temples for 13 days after the death, the amount of time it is believed that the soul takes to ascend to heaven
• most of these traditions are about helping the soul let go of the physical realmRead more