Cremation in Pashupatinah

Posted by Matt Cauquil (Brussels, Belgium) on 6 December 2006 in People & Portrait.

Cremation in Pashupatinah, the ceremony is public and the ashes are then thrown in the holy river. The women pay a last hommage to their friend and the eldest son sets fire.

Comments (7)

Stu from Kyoto, Japan

this is a very powerful pic for me. from looking at the people you know exactly whats about to happen. it's a very profound moment and it makes me search the expressions of the on-lookers more, only to find that some of them seem to smiling - despite the solemnity of the moment! A really wonderful capture matt, and nicely composed too. well done mate.

6 Dec 2006 2:03pm

Jason Kravitz from Brussels, Belgium

hey Matt - have not been out to your site in a while!
You have captured an event that most outsiders do not see. I think people in India have a different view of death than Western Americas/Europeans do.

6 Dec 2006 3:09pm

Duncan Galbraith from kyoto, Japan

yes. very well handled. It's obviously not an easy event to capture whilst retaining a respectful distance but you've obviously done so here. A sombre and reflective image.

6 Dec 2006 3:11pm

Matt Cauquil from Brussels, Belgium

@Jason
It si true, the relation to ceath is so different, in western civilisation it is almost "taboo" to talk about death or cremation, it only stays in the family and close friends. Over there they need to let the spirits come out of the body and death is not considered as the end somehow.. Very impressive but it felt bizarre to take pictures all the way through cremation so I stopped after the eldest son set fire to the pile of wood

6 Dec 2006 4:51pm

badala from Leiria, Portugal

Greta picture.

6 Dec 2006 5:18pm

Darren from Tokyo, Japan

Nice shot and probably a good thing you kept your distance maybe the people wouldn't be so happy knowing you were taling photo's.

6 Dec 2006 11:59pm

Damon Schreiber from Toronto, Canada

Very powerful.

7 Dec 2006 4:13am

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