It’s not every day you get to visit a Hindu temple.
It’s not every day you get to visit a ‘mecca’ of Hinduism
It’s not every day you get to witness a dead body.
It’s not every day you get to witness a dead body being burned.
This was a day I will never forget.
This week for ministry a few teams got to visit Pashupatinath Temple, a place where Hindus go to die, a place where Hindus go to enter the afterlife. This temple is dedicated to the god, Shiva, the god of creation and destruction. This sacred temple has been standing since the 13th century, although tradition states it was constructed in the 3rd century BC. Regardless of dates, this temple is filled with historical intrigue and weight. When we entered the temple it was clear that we were the minority in our beliefs. I could physically feel the weight of death while walking around.
We were able to get an English speaking tour guide to help us understand what we were seeing. In Hinduism, the belief in reincarnation is highly stressed and great importance is put on the cremation of a body after death. The body goes through a purification process before being placed on the burning altar, and when burning only pure oils can be placed on the deceased. The entire process takes 4-5 hours, and an additional 4 hours for the altar to be completely cleansed after a cremation before the next can take place. There is great significance to the elements: earth, air, water during cremation and the funeral priest needs to make sure the body completely enters the afterlife: flesh to smoke, ash to water, etc.
Aside from the obvious cremation aspects of the temple, there was so much more going on. On site, there was an elderly home where over 200 people were living, mostly abandoned by their families to live out their days, and a hospice center. In addition to human cremation, animal sacrifices are also made in the temple. These sacrifices are done by a man called “The Butcher” who was probably one of the most terrifying men I’ve ever seen, mostly because he followed Heather and I around. Sadhu’s, or “holy men” live in caves on the outskirts of the temple. These men have reached a certain level of holiness and are now “out” of reincarnations. They will live the remainder of their days at the temple and will be buried outside the temple, in the hills, where Shiva lives.
There were so many disturbing things that I saw, and even more that I heard, (cannibalism *shudder*), but the most disturbing of all was not being able to shake the image of the physical body of the men and women being burned and knowing their spiritual body was also burning. I left the temple so confused, and hurting by the physical weight of the things I saw. I didn’t understand, I still don’t and I’m pained by the uphill battle it is to breaking a broken belief system. I needed so much time to decompress, to sort out the things I witnessed and to understand our purpose for being there.
My purpose there was understanding the weight of salvation. Our purpose there was to be obedient to what God wanted to teach us individually. Even in the midst of the heaviest and darkest place I’ve ever been in my life, light shone through. We carry Jesus with us wherever we go. We walked around that temple and brought light to people, even when we felt helpless.
“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense ; he has become my salvation.”
(Isaiah 12:2)
This day was packed with information and a lot of emotional struggles. I’m sorry if I got any information incorrect or was confusing! I’m also sorry for the graphic content in the vlog! I hope I was able to do justice to what we witnessed without dishonoring any persons.
Warning! The content in this video is very graphic.
