Funeral

Funeral

The village of Ramdi

With the schools still being closed due to Tees festival I was invited to attend a local funeral today (Friday 21), it was a lot different to a English one.  It started off with a gathering at the family’s home attended by relatives, friends, local people (who just seemed to want to know what was going on) and me, I felt rather out of place and did though the whole day. No one seemed to mind my being there though, I think as Mahendra took me and he is a close relative.  While at the home the body was brought out wrapped in a while cloth with the face still on show, I’ve never seen a dead body before and to me he just looked fake, he was then blessed and wrapped in more shrouds for the upcoming bus journey.  Afterwards there followed a sequence of prayers and a, sort of, parade around the town ending at the bus park.

The Kaligandaki River

We took the bus to a village named Ramdi with the corpse ridding on the roof, only men are involved in the penultimate part so, consequently the women stayed at home. I asked why this gender divide was going on, but the only answer I got was ‘tradition’.  Ramdi is situated on the Kaligandaki River, one of the largest rivers in Nepal; it was here where the conclusion to the funeral took place. The body was rested partially in the river and partially on the shore. The majority of the mourners went to gather wood while several stayed behind to create a temporary platform at the edge of the river using large stones, upon which the funeral pyre was constructed. The body was then unwrapped down to a loin cloth and blessed again before being placed upon the pyre. The mourners then waded though the river and around the body to say goodbye, I think. After which the fire was lit. The majority of people took to the shade for about four hours, periodically wandering back over to the flames, it was a really hot day especially when you were stood on the white sandy banks with no cloud cover. After the fire had burnt down, more prayers were said then the ashes brushed into the river. Following this the congregation all went for something to eat in a local cafe/restaurant, then travelled home.

The funeral is concluded by the family sitting Shiva, which I believed to be a Jewish tradition. The only difference is that the family is visited in the mornings or evenings, instead of throughout the day. Also they don’t sit on little chairs.