Cremation, Caste, and Cosmogony in Karmic Traditions.

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If the river could not cleanse itself it did not have the same ritual capacity and power that characterised holiness. In other words, if the river was as holy as the texts and tradition claimed, then it could only prove it by cleansing itself. Hence, the river was seen as being divinely embodied, and the underlying logic was: if the river cannot clean its own body, how can it cleanse and purify human bodies? Holiness is the capability to digest, consume, and erase pollution. Transference of pollution from humans to another “embodied” substance, which cleanses the sacrificers and still remains pure, is a capacity of transcending impure materiality, and this capacity is a divine quality. During Shivaratri 2001 Bagmati was not seen as a holy river due to the deteriorated state of pollution. Some Aghoris claimed that even some dead have appeared during nights in the river, shedding tears of having been cremated in such a filthy river. Although the devotees still worshipped the river, the majority did not take holy baths but only sprinkled a little bit of sewage on their feet and hands, although a few Indian pilgrims dipped themselves because they still believed in the purity of the river as described in the religious texts. In general, the devotees were concerned and worried about the religious consequences of the deteriorating river in society. One informant argued that there were only two possibilities; either one has to rewrite the Hindu religion and change the rituals, or one could fight for a clean Bagmati river, and he stressed that the effort should be put on the latter alternative. Rituals are more than just the collective acts, and the private and personal aspects are equally important. Rituals are also social events, and changes in the ways water was used had consequences in other spheres of life. Holy baths were the most important part of the rituals, and the rituals were the central core in family life. A “holy” shower in the bathroom back home was not a substitute for holy baths in the river. Rituals as events bind the family together, but when the performance of the rites had lost its meaning, the social implications affected the family and the social structure. Relatives return to the patrilinear core for festivals, but when the importance of rituals declined, in some cases it affected family as a social institution. The water crisis created ritual problems, which turned into social problems. This stresses the dual character of these rites: both the elements in themselves, but also the actual performances of the rituals are constitutive parts intimately interwoven in each other. The use of holy media is crucial in the devotee’s own understanding of the merits and the reason why they perform the rituals, and the ritual is incomplete if the internal elements are substituted. 190 Catch 22 – an empty river for 7 months a year The Pashupatinath Area Development Trust was established in 2043 BS (1986 CE) in order to develop the area in accordance with the Master plan focusing on three main fields, aiming to 1) provide physical facilities and other facilities to pilgrims visiting Nepal, 2) provide physical facilities and information to tourists, and 3) preserve and conserve the religious and cultural monuments that have historical importance. The main problems with the conservation and preservation of the monuments have been the lack of qualified people and the scarcity of funding. Nevertheless, in 2001 PADT had already conserved more than fifteen monuments, and there were three main projects going on, which were: 1) the Vishurapha temple with the satal – the surroundings, 2) the Pamchadewal (five temples) where the Mother Theresa house is a part of this complex, and 3) the Charumati Bihar – an area with a lot of small temples. Two cremation ghats were made in 2000, and one in 2002 at Ram Ghat, to meet the demands of an increased population and consequently, more dead people. In 2001, 183 people were working for PADT, and most of them worked with the cleaning and maintenance of the area. Pashupatinath area is only a small part of the Bagmati River, and the trust aims not to pollute downstream and their policy is to clean that part of the river which passes by the temple complex. There are mainly three types of ritual pollution which affect the river; pollution from the ghat area, some drainage from the local area, and flowers offered to the temple, which the temple assistants later dispose of in the river. The trust aims to remove these three problems of pollution, and they have already managed the problem with the sewage drainage which is cleaned and channelled further south. Regarding the ghat pollution, the plan is to make an arrangement with iron cages in front of the ghats in which the bones, ashes, and wood can be collected and, which afterwards can be lifted up and thrown in the garbage. Then they are planning to make nets, which the flowers from the temple can be collected in. The importance is the immersion in the sacred river. As long as the cremated remains or flowers offered to the linga touch the river, they become immediately profane garbage which can be collected and thrown away (figs. 12.2-12.3). The engineers were aware of the fact that they intervene in religious spheres and domains, and that many devotees are highly sensitive and suspicious of changes in what they regard as a holy tradition. But the trust sees the problem the other way around; the question is not if people will accept the changes but if the trust will allow people to throw things and thereby pollute the river. Nevertheless, they are reluctant to impose too dramatic and hasty changes, and they make each change small and “invisible” so the devotees gradually adapt to the new systems.
Fig. 12.2. Cremains from the previous funeral are carried away while other cremations take place. Fig. 12.3. Clothes from the deceased are picked up from the river while the dead is being cremated. 191
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Death and Life-Giving Waters Cremat
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Preface Contents List of figures In
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The origin of Pashupatinath and the
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Fig. 5.1 Map of Bangladesh with Far
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In karmic traditions, death and lif
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constructions, it has often been ap
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Part 1: Cremating Death - Creating
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ethically conditioned (fig 1.2). Th
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The pervasiveness of karma linking
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Fig. 1.3. Pashupatinath temple and
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Fig. 1.5. Cremation priest lighting
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Fig. 1.7. Ghat management and servi
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theories of castes as an organisati
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Fig. 1.9. The sons collected the as
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highly polluted that the people wou
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24 Fig. 1.12. Durga Prasad Sapkota
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problematic (Levinson 1982:198), es
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(seeds, food). In life a person bec
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Fig. 2.1. Manikarnika Ghat, Varanas
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the dead, (they shall eat) their fo
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Fig. 2.6. The representation of cas
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degrees of purity and pollution. En
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Fig. 2.8. Caste structure according
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Nevertheless, it is preferable to b
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the sacrifier is the sacrifice. Thu
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partly a process by which the gods
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Chapter 3: Meditation upon death an
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Being a part of a religious elite i
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The dangers of social interaction S
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Third party observing and legitimat
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Fig. 3.4. Tyaginath sitting next to
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57 Top: Fig. 3.6. The grave of Nara
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the Mahabrahmans mostly consume the
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Religion and ritual Studies of deat
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purest in common sense is not alway
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Fig. 4.3. Modes of fleshly incarnat
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e reincarnated into regarding spiri
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Fig. 4.5. Hocart’s and Dumont’s
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impure and still treated as a Brahm
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Part 2: The Sisters Kali and Ganga
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Ganga Brahmaputra • Faridpur Bay
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Fig. 5.4. Ambikapur Shashan Ghat. F
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Fig. 5.6. Channel from the pyre whe
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The head is always supposed to be d
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Hinduism. She is employed as a care
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Only Hindus are cremated at the cem
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According to Hazera, Badol cremated
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Fig. 6.1. Statue of Jagadbandhu. 90
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Fig. 6.2. Rajani receives the bless
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His disciples are like missionaries
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In the Ashram all the expenses are
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Fig. 6.7. Burial in coffin. 98
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Fig. 6.8. Private Kali temple in Ba
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Fig. 6.9. Jagadbandhu temple in Ban
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The importance of the priest in rit
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the rituals, and they have differen
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108
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Fig. 7.1. The mighty Ganga. Fig. 7.
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Fig. 7.3. Tara. Fig. 7.4. Tripur-Su
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Fig. 7.11. Chinnamasta. 114
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immediate divine access and godly g
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Fig. 7.12. Pot-maker in front by th
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Fig. 7.14. The making of Durga. 120
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This image is the most important pa
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Fig. 7.17. Replacement of Shashan K
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Fig. 7.18. The Baishanti Durga puja
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tradition. The Bhaishanti Durga sta
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enlightenment and achieve liberatio
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132
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cloth. Although the Hindus in Farid
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Fig. 8.1. A combined Kali and Saras
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high-caste and priests as religious
Page 152 and 153: 1979:115-118). As seen in Faridpur
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Page 158 and 159: Fig. 9. 1. Map of Nepal. Kaligandak
Page 160 and 161: The opposite approach is the histor
Page 162 and 163: Fig. 9.2. Manang and Gangapurna gla
Page 164 and 165: Fig. 9.5. Bone grinding. 152
Page 166 and 167: Only 20-25 years ago air-burials we
Page 168 and 169: was completed by the end of the 18
Page 170 and 171: As a cultural construct water is al
Page 172 and 173: These sacrifices rebuild the deceas
Page 174 and 175: giving mother. A “spirit” is
Page 176 and 177: Gorakhnath promised the Nepalese th
Page 178 and 179: “Shiva, the god of eroticism, is
Page 180 and 181: Fig. 10. 3. Dagbatti - the lighting
Page 182 and 183: Fig. 10.4. Sexual engravings at the
Page 184 and 185: priori”, Jung argues; “The repr
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Page 188 and 189: are there in a quite objective sens
Page 190 and 191: Purana, “those who recite them wi
Page 192 and 193: forms of colour, 4) water with the
Page 194 and 195: Fig. 11.2. The spot where humans we
Page 196 and 197: Fig. 11.4. Bagmati originating from
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Page 200 and 201: Fig. 12.1. Sadhu fasting for Nepali
Page 204 and 205: The trust is not directly involved
Page 206 and 207: Fig. 12.6. The outlet of treated wa
Page 208 and 209: As an example, once a complete drun
Page 210 and 211: Fig. 12.10. Bagmati River with clea
Page 212 and 213: positive or negative feedback upon
Page 214 and 215: this process happens slowly and pro
Page 216 and 217: Fig. 13.1. Decaying corpse at Nire
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Page 220 and 221: while unmarried girls and boys with
Page 222 and 223: Logic of sin and pollution Cosmogon
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Page 228 and 229: less “true”, unimportant, or in
Page 230 and 231: From the present to the past, urban
Page 232 and 233: Dating traditions - the development
Page 234 and 235: The Muluki Ain aimed to arrange all
Page 236 and 237: spiritual fold took them to the upp
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Page 240 and 241: esult of a variety of combinations
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Page 244 and 245: procured for the people. The import
Page 246 and 247: Fig. 15.1. Gundestrup cauldron with
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Page 250 and 251: took place, at some time in history
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Fig. 16.1. Maneckji Seti Agiary in
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stony desert. The polluted body was
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Fig. 16.3. Zoroastrian ossuary from
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Fig. 16.4. Zarathushtra and fire-te
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Fig. 16.6. Inside a Tower of Silenc
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Fig. 16.7. Zarathushtra. 250
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meaningfully constituted and situat
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creative act in world-history - unl
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Alexander there offered sacrifices
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therefore concentrate on his docume
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Marshall suggested that the height
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Fig. 17.5. Dharmarajika: plan of re
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Fig. 17.6. Buddha from Building L n
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Fig. 17.8. The “smaller” Buddha
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is always explaining, instructing,
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Pakistan Fig. 17.9. Mohenjo-daro an
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Fig. 17.10. The Great Bath. From Ma
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This is problematic for several rea
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As mentioned before, Schutz has mad
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278
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of birth and death. The soul is ete
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constructions are applied and mater
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many possibilities such an approach
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follows her husband purifies the th
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improper performances of funerals.
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290
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292
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kept perpetually ablaze for over a
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Gange Farid million people. Muslim
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Manosha The patron saint of serpent
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Ratnasambhava The third dhyanibuddh
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Tirtha Spiritual ford, crossing pla
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304
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very nice. The last son (or husband
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y putting faces on people who other
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Hence, I have a feeling that I am o
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Fig. 18.3. Ram Mani Gyawali, author
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314
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When it again closes then Shiva bec
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or the opposite? Is the Aghori capa
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A man, after taking a bath in the P
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Vishnu said: Obeisance to you, O de
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The linga is pure, auspicious and i
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326
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Cambridge. Barth, F. 1990. The Guru
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Art, Religion & Culture: 184-191. M
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Priest. Cambridge University Press.
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Insoll, T. 1999b. Introduction. Res
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Lahiri, N. 2000. Archaeology and id
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Ahmedabad. Mirza, H. K. 2002. Liter
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Gandhi National Centre for the Arts
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(eds.). Representing Hinduism: 51-8
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Cremation, Caste, and Cosmogony in Karmic Traditions.

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