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Volume 3 18 |
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A–Z |  |
HINDU CREMATION: SCENE AT THE BURNING GHATS, CALCUTTA
| The death of a Brahmin has always been associated with a number of indispensable ceremonies, and most Hindus observe many formalities on the death of their relations. The practice of cremation, carried to India by the early Aryans, still prevails, and the funeral pyre seen above, erected by the deceased's nearest of kin, is a common sight in the cremation-ground or burning ghats of Calcutta |
PERFORMING THE LAST RITES FOR A HINDU BROTHER
| The pyre erected, the corpse is placed upon it; then, in the sight of the mourners, who in tense attitudes are grouped around, the wood is piled over the body and set alight by the chief mourner. The Hindus have professional mourners who undertake to make the necessary lamentations and wailings, and sacred oil is poured on the body before and while the pyre is alight |