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Volume 3 19 |
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A–Z |  |
CHIEF MOURNERS WATCHING THE BURNING OF THE FUNERAL PYRE
| The dead bodies are often carried to the cremation-ground exposed, but in some towns in India they are covered in a shroud while being burnt. Years ago, if the corpse was that of a man, the wife would throw herself on the burning pyre and be burnt with her husband rather than endure the shame of being a widow, for as such it was considered to be |
IN THE KINGDOM OF SHADES AND SILENCE
| The charred and smouldering funeral pyre is now deserted and the body consumed; the ashes are then scattered in the river Hooghli, or in the great sacred river of India, the Ganges. After this, the mourners return home, thinking little of the body, but much of the spirit that has departed. "Death is only an incident in the long journey of the Hindu pilgrim" |