Dad Blog #4: Ashes to Ashes

Today we hit a few 3000 year old Buddhist and Hindu temples including Pashupatinath (pronounced,posh-potty-not). It's the holy of the holies for Hindu followers of Shiva (she-vah). Shiva isn't a she, she's a he and no one to mess with: God of Destruction. I learned from our guide that Hindus have literally millions of gods and are coming up with new ones almost daily. I'm okay with that because there's a holiday or festival associated with most of them. Nepalis don't get a lot of work done but they're incredible partiers. Posh Potty is an amazing enclave of temples, shrines, half naked sadhus (wise men - most of them extremely colorful, hash baked con men beckoning to be photographed for a few rupees). According to legend Shiva supposedly discovered the transcendental powers of ganja (marijuana) which grows wild in Nepal. With each hit the sadhus chant "I am Shiva".

Advertisement for one of the most famous Sadhus: Milk Baba.



Then there are the cremation ghats. These are concrete platforms next to the river. After they burn the body down to ash someone sweeps whats left into the river. The sight and smell of public cremation is pretty raw. If its a dead parent the process begins with the oldest child placing a burning stick into the mouth of the deceased. (My mother died less than a year ago making all of this a bit overwhelming.) Then the man in charge gets the pyre going like a huge backyard bar-b-que. (At this point I made one of my many broken vows to become a vegetarian.) Adding to the atmosphere are wild monkeys just hanging out and grooming each other. We were warned to keep a safe distance from them. They reminded me of the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz. I wanted to click my heels and go back to Kansas but had to settle for a wonderful balcony dinner with Lauren and Meredith at sunset overlooking the city as it quieted down for the night.

Pashupatinath: