Katmandu - Pashupati

We flew into Katmandu, Nepal and travelled 20 minutes to our hotel, Hotel Tibet. Thomas Kelly, a renowned photographer met us and took us on a tour of the city. 
First stop: the Pashupatinath, or Pashupati, a Hindu temple on the banks of the Bagmati River in Deopatan. It is dedicated to a manifestation of Shiva called Pashupati (Lord of Animals). It is regarded as the most sacred temple of Hindu Lord Shiva in the world. Thousands pilgrim to this temple, known as the "Temple of Living Beings". It's history is shrowded in legends and tales - some say it dates back to the 400AD.

Many ornate pagodas surround the temple which is situationed on the riverbanks of a tributary to the Ganges, the Bagmati river. This is considered a holy area and it is believed that to die and to be cremated here will release one from the cycle of repeated birth and death.The ashes of persons cremated are sprinkled into the waters of the Bagmati, eventually to be carried to the Ganges. 
In the hour that we stood on the banks and watched, we watched the pires be loaded with logs, stuffed with kindling, and bodies burned - then the pires cleared of all remaining ash - and the process repeated again.  

If you look closely at the river, you will see that it is filled with trash, monkeys, and cows. As we stood and watched, smoke and ashes filled our nostrils and covered our sweaty bodies.  Although it is a holy place, I was anxious to leave to river bank and the smell of burning flesh and rotting trash behind.