Cremation, Caste, and Cosmogony in Karmic Traditions.

The trust is not directly involved in the cleaning of
Bagmati because that is a task for Department of Water
Supply. North of Pashupatinath, next to Gueswhori
temple, the Bagmati Area Sewage Project has built the
previously described sewage cleaning station for the
cleaning of the water, which transports the water in
pipelines further south back into the Bagmati River
downstream of Pashupatinath. The cleaning station is
able to clean 200 litres of polluted water per minute.
After the process, the water looks clear, but the problem
with toxicants from carpet factories upstream is unsolved
and can only be finally solved by closing or removing
the factories. The cleaning station filters the water
through successive stages. The free floating garbage is
first removed before the water is pumped through pipes
into huge tanks where the water is oxygenated for fifteen
hours by accelerators rotating the water masses. Then the
water is channelled to other tanks where the particles are
deposited (fig. 12.4-12.5), and finally the water is
channelled back into either Bagmati or the surrounding
fields (fig. 12.6). The deposited sediments in the
cleaning process are manufactured and sold as fertilisers
to the farmers. There is no inlet to Bagmati after the
cleaning station apart from natural drainage. The cleaned
sewage is re-channelled back into Bagmati below
Pashupatinath.
There were many doubts regarding the project. Some
claimed that it was too expensive and that the economic
calculations regarding what needed to be done were
inaccurate, but more importantly from a religious
perspective was whether the river would be holy or not
after it was cleaned. Some emphasised that the water
should be continuously flowing from its source if it
should retain its holiness. Even if the water became pure
it would not be considered sacred. Holiness is not the
same as purity, and water without movement cannot be
sacred. Others emphasised that the water would become
holy after it had been purified. In 2001 an engineer
claimed that the project would more or less fail because
the main problem was not the sewage but the toxic
chemicals from the carpet factories. The sand layers that
filtered the water were not capable of removing the
chemicals. Thus, even though the river looked more
clean and pure, the problem with toxic chemicals
persisted. The river, he argued, would be as poisonous
and dangerous as before the cleaning station was opened,
although the seemingly “pure and clean” water could
deceive pilgrims.
Today, the main problem with the sewage cleaning
station is the loss of water in the river, and currently the
river might dry up seven months each year at Arya Ghat.
At Sundarijal there is a water supply for Kathmandu,
which means that there is less water coming into
Bagmati River further downstream, and together with
the channelling of the filtered sewage there is not much
water left in Bagmati in front of the Pahupatinath
temple. An empty river has severe consequences. The
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ground water table will decrease during winter times,
and high flood discharges might increase on Arya ghat
and further downstream. Therefore, Pashupatinath Area
Development Trust plans to build a dam 4 metres in
height just upstream of the sewage cleaning station with
a water reservoir capacity of 200.000 m 3 (figs. 12.7-
12.8). If the reservoir is built it will secure permanent,
clean water at Pashupatinath, and the proposed idea
contains a combination of cleaning polluted water and
recycling of cleaned water. The riverbed area in front of
Pashupatinath – the main surface area which the project
aims to keep clean – covers 3000 m 3, and the project
aims to recycle the water in front of this ghat area. If the
dam is built, it will have enough water to supply
Bagmati for five months, but the river will be more or
less empty for two months, which does not make the
reservoir a satisfying and permanent solution to the
water scarcity. The advantages with this proposed
project are, according to the engineers, that the fresh and
clean water storage for the ghats is secured, the
groundwater in the neighbourhood is recharged, it
creates better recreation facilities, it will improve the
river’s water quality, and finally, it enables floodcontrol.
The costs of this project – approximately 4
million dollars, is, however, a drawback, but it
illuminates the importance of keeping these few
hundreds metres of the riverbank in front of the ghat
with clean water. The holiness of the river, the temple,
and the importance of being cremated at the ghats,
justify the expenses.
Shivaratri 2002 and 2003
Before Shivaratri is the wedding season, and there were
numerous weddings celebrated at Pashupatinath both
years. Astrologically, this is an auspicious time to get
married, and it is also an auspicious place for marriage
since Pashupatinath is the most holy place in Nepal. The
place is sacred for all ritual activities, from the cradle to
the grave. The Shivaratri 2002 was on March 12 th .
PADT estimated that there were 400.000 pilgrims at
Shivaratri in 2002, but in the newspapers after the
festival it was estimated that only some 150.000 people
made their pilgrimage to Pashupatinath. As mentioned,
the official policy of the topography of Pashupatinath is
to increase the sacredness and remake the religious
grandeur. Since 2001, prior to the festival there had been
major construction and management work at
Pashupatinath organised by PADT. The commercial
vendors in front of the temples had been removed, and
temples were repaired and painted. Old and deteriorating
buildings were bought and torn down. During the last
years the area had developed into a dumping place for
beggars and various kinds of addicts. Guards were
therefore controlling the area, waking up sadhus if they
slept in the wrong places, keeping order, and chasing
away troublemakers from the area, which in some cases
included holy men.