Cremation, Caste, and Cosmogony in Karmic Traditions.

The katto-ceremonies of King Birendra and King
Dipendra
The 75-year old Brahman priest Durga Prasad Sapkota
who hailed from the Kavre district, ate the katto of the
late King Birendra on the 11th day of mourning, Monday
June 11. The elephant was decorated traditionally, and
the Brahman was dressed as the king wearing a gold-
embroidered Nepali dress. The priest wore a replica of
the crown; he used clothes, shoes and other ornaments
that belonged to the deceased king (fig. 1.11). The meal
was supposed to consist of 84 delicacies, and it included
meat of a male goat, which was sacrificed earlier that
day. Sapkota used about nine minutes to taste all the
different parts of the food that was served to him at the
Kalmochan Ghat at Tripureshwore, where mourners had
observed rituals the last eleven days. He was sitting in a
tented room that was furnished with offerings from the
Royal Palace. The ceremony started around 11.30 a.m.
Sapkota was embarrassed when he dressed up, and
policemen stood in a line in front of the priest to protect
his modesty when he changed into the personal clothes
of the king.
The priest was given the money he asked for, officially,
and he said that it was a great honour for him to do the
ritual. All together the jewellery and the money, which
were given to the priest, amounted approximately 10,000
dollars, including the elephant that he also received.
After he ate the meal he rode the elephant across
Bagmati River to Kupondole and further on to
Jawalakhel in Lalitpur district where he stayed until the
next day. Thereafter he rode on his elephant out of the
Kathmandu valley, from which he was banished (fig.
1.12).
According to tradition he was not supposed to return to
the valley, but some argued that the Nepali society had
changed today so he could return if he wanted. Highranking
officers from the army, police, and bureaucrats
witnessed the ritual together with the prime minister and
other politicians including members of the parliament.
The 11th day ceremony was held for Queen Aishwarya
and Prince Nirajan at the ghat the same day, but the
katto-ritual was only held for King Birendra. The
personal belongings of Queen Aishwarya were offered to
the chief priest at the Royal Palace.
Durga Prasad Sapkota, King Birendra’s katto-priest, was
a temple priest at a small temple at Pashupatinath. After
the ritual consumption he was not allowed to enter the
temple of Pashupatinath. He was treated as a low-caste,
and among the Funeral priests he was seen as equal to a
pode (toilet cleaner). Previously, it has been Indian
priests from Madras or Varanasi who ate katto, but this
time Nepali priests did the ritual. The temple priests at
Pashupatinath, who are Indian priests, conducted also the
ritual in the past, but they are not allowed to perform the
katto-ceremony nowadays. This has allegedly its reason
in the loss of status since the person who consumes the
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king’s flesh is seen as low-caste or a pode. Moreover, a
holy man, for instance an Aghori, cannot perform the
katto-ritual since he has neither wife nor house. Sadhus
are not included in the society as responsible
Householders. Durga Prasda Sapkota was, on the other
hand, an Upadhyay Brahman, and it was only Upadhyay
Brahmans who could conduct the katto-ritual. Even if a
Jaisi Brahman wanted to eat the katto, he would not been
allowed. Both types of Brahmans may cremate the
corpse, as indicated, but it is only the Upadhyay
Brahmins who can conduct the kriya rituals.
The katto-ceremony is, some say, reserved for monarchs
only. Consequently, there were lingering doubts whether
this ritual should be performed for Dipendra, but since
he was declared as king despite lying unconscious in
coma, the decision was taken that the ritual should be
carried out. Finding the right person for eating the katto
of King Dipendra was not an easy task. If Dipendra was
a manslayer, then bad fortune was attached to his body
and all priests were reluctant to do his katto-ritual. A
priest named Bharat Sapkota was initially elected, but
rejected the evening before. Nevertheless, Thursday June
14th, the katto ceremony of king Dipendra was held at
Kalmochan Ghat. Devi Prasad Acharya – a 65-year old
Hindu priest – was promised that he would become
wealthy if he did the ritual. A group of priests had
persuaded him to take part in the ritual, and he had been
assured that he would receive hundreds of thousands of
rupees. Even Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala had
promised him that he would be richly compensated for
the act of eating parts of the dead king’s flesh.
The onlookers thought that the priest was nervous and
unhappy, and he seemed reluctant to touch the meal, but
finally he swallowed a few mouthfuls. Then he dressed
up like the king in the royal costume. He used a replica
of the Nepali crown and a pair of Dipendra’s shoes
although they were several numbers too big. Acharya
went into exile in a remote part of Nepal after the
ceremony, and he received some assortments such as a
television set, an electric fan, sofa, bed, and clothing.
The katto of both King Birendra and Dipendra took
place at Kalmochan Ghat. Kalmochan Ghat means
“freedom from death”. Kalmochan Ghat is located by
Bagmati River where it represents the border between
the kingdoms of Kathmandu and Patan. When there were
only petty kingdoms in Nepal, Kalmochan Ghat and
Bagmati River represented the country’s border, then the
katto-priest was expelled from the kingdom by the
symbolic crossing of the river. In 2001, after the
elephants crossed Bagmati the crowd started to throw
rotten fruits and stones at the former priests riding out of
Kathmandu. Horses and porters, who carried the
luxurious necessities for the Brahman priests, followed
the elephants.
According to the tradition, the Brahmans were not
allowed to return to the valley again, and they were so