Cremation, Caste, and Cosmogony in Karmic Traditions.

Fig. 2.8. Caste structure according to Hocart Ritual space and cremations at Pashupatinath
God The Shiva Linga
Royal Royal
Good people Priestly Ghats Priestly
Farming Farming
Low Various Low caste cremated outside the holy area,
denied access to the ghats
Traditionally, low-caste Newari have not been cremated
at the main Pashupatinath area at the cremation ghats.
The Dom caste is a black-box category basically
designating Newari low caste in the Pashupatinath area.
In the Nepali language the damai belongs also to the
Dom. Low-caste Newari people are normally cremated
along Bagmati River south of Ram Ghat. Today, only
the poorest and most deprived groups follow the
tradition of cremating their deceased below the dam, but
before the introduction of democracy, cremations were
conducted on the other side of the river in front of the
toilets, especially by the musicians; the Gandara. The
lowest caste among the Newari is the pode – the toilet
cleaners. According to the hierarchy of low-castes given
in the 1854 Law Code (Mulukin Ain), the sweepers,
including the pode, were ranked at the very bottom
because they accepted everyone else’s food (Gellner
1999b:266-267). Today, they might cremate on the side
of the Bagmati River where Ram Ghat is located, but
further south (fig. 2.9). I have witnessed three
cremations of low caste Newar from the pode-jati. They
were cremated south of the dam close to the Ring road
on the western side of the river. The kamis, damais, and
sarkis used to cremate in front of the toilets, but
nowadays they cremate their deceased at Ram Ghat,
although some sarkis still cremate in accordance with
the old tradition.
During the panchayat period 3 it was forbidden for a lowcaste
to be cremated at Ram Ghat. Since the introduction
of democracy in 1991, there are no official laws
prohibiting low castes from conducting their funerals at
Ram Ghat. Socially, however, this is not legitimate
because the taboos are still prevalent in people’s minds
structuring the actual practices, and no low caste people
3 The panchayat system:
The panchayat system was introduced in 1962 by King
Mahendra, as an attempt to create a simulation of a democratic
administration, and the system was often described as a “tired
democracy”. Except from elections at the village level all other
panchayats and assemblies were elected indirectly, and in the
absence of political parties the system had a very narrow base
of popular representation. King Mahendra did not allow
political parties to function because he felt that they were
disruptive elements and faction-oriented, and during the
panchayat period for almost three decades the King was a nearabsolute
monarch (Shaha 1990:5-6).
38
are allowed to be cremated at Arya Ghat even today.
Despite the prevailing taboos, there have indeed been a
few exceptions in recent history. A former minister in
the Panchayat period was a low caste Newari, and he
was cremated at Ram Ghat. Moreover, before PADT
organised the cremations there might have occurred lowcaste
cremations at Arya Ghat, because the descendants
were not obliged to inform the priests of their names and
jati. If the relatives cremated the deceased with the
clothes on instead of with the torso bare, it was
impossible to know whether they wore the sacred thread
or not. If the relatives lied regarding their decent, then
the priest might have unwillingly and unknowingly
allowed low-caste cremations at Arya Ghat. Moreover, if
the funeral procession was able to build the pyre and lay
the deceased upon it, it was then too late for the priests
to complain, and the funeral had to be performed.
There has indeed been a low-caste cremation conducted
at the royal platform on Arya Ghat during the last two
decades. A blacksmith was cremated on the royal
platform despite the funeral priests’ protests. The
blacksmith’s funeral procession consisted of numerous
people, and they forced their way to the platform and
threatened the few priests who were working at the ghat.
The Funeral priests could do nothing but witness the
blacksmiths’ cremation on the royal platform.
Today, it is mainly Brahmans, Chhetris, and high caste
Newari who are cremated at Arya Ghat. These are the
“wealthy” both in terms of ritual and economic status,
whereas the “commoners” are cremated at Ram Ghat.
Matwalis may cremate at both ghats although Ram Ghat
is, according to the ideology and tradition, their
prescribed place. Some matwali groups have their own
funeral priest who perform the cremations because they
do not want to have rituals conducted by people of more
“superior” or high-ranking castes than themselves. Thus,
there is a ritual structure lying at the bottom determining
where the deceased is cremated. However, this strict
pattern is not always followed, and there are sometimes
practical reasons for choosing Ram Ghat instead of Arya
Ghat today. There are seven platforms at the former
ghat, and only one on the latter. Even high caste people
may choose to cremate at Ram Ghat, if the queue is long,
instead of waiting for hours at Arya Ghat.