TRAVEL FEATURE - NEPAL
LEIGH WILKINS
IT ' S THE FREAKIEST SHOW
Steps that date back millennia form a sort of stadium seating , smoke fills the air , oily yet not pungent nor offensive , thick with the aroma of teak and sandalwood . It ’ s an odd sight , voyeuristic and yet somehow mediative . We ’ re watching families in their most vulnerable state , raw emotion verging on cataclysmic . However emotionally draining , this spectacle could be describe as something of the freakiest show , something so foreign to western eyes that it compels a need to be viewed .
We ’ d made our way to the banks of the Bagmati river , on the eastern side of the Nepali capital , Kathmandu . A tributary of the Koshi which , in turn feeds the Ganges , the Bagmati has exceptional significance to the Hindu faithful of Nepal . The river is a source of life , even in death .
Amongst the onlookers , on the opposing side of the river , came the occasional wale of distress , a loved one was being prepared for the afterlife . On the banks of the Bagmati , we were witnessing a production line of the most personal kind as loved ones were prepared for cremation , washed amongst the heavily polluted waters to ensure that their soul has been reincarnated before the body is given back to the elements ; earth , water , fire , air , and space . This must all take place within 24 hours of death , providing an ongoing spectacle of grief , love , life , and death .
The Pashupatinath temple where this takes place is one of seven monument groups that forms the Kathmandu Valley ’ s UNESCO World Heritage designation . The grandeur of the temple is overshadowed by the personal insight into how the Hindu religion treats death and ultimately the life of a person . I sat transfixed , a conflict of morbid fascination , of voyeuristic intent , and the extreme sensitivity of the moment . Looking
TRAVERSE 111