The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-04-21
HINDOO CREMATION.
hey BURN THE BODIES OF THEIR
DEAD IN THE OPEN AIR.

VI henrs-Thc blessed State From tho
n Hindoo Standpoint.
81 Although we arc beginning to believo
porc and more every year in cremation
Ill think ourselves accordingly adj
anccd, the Hindoos have practiccd it
81 u thousands of years. Tho funeral pile
ara]ah sometimes costs laos of rupees
Hlndoo body is sometimes burned
81 men rupees cover the entire expenses
lie rich Hlnloo may be somewhat OK
uSlNc. The llindoo masses do oyery-
ing simply and openly. They batho
&ut OF doors, they pray out of doors, they
$ polk out OF doors, they die out of doors
nd their bodies are burned out of doors
81 mere arc thrco burning CHATS In Cal
Hutta.
u writer to the Pail Mall Budget tells
cry cntcrtainingly of visit she made
8o one OF the cheapest and most primi-
! llvc of these three.
4 just as She entered into the inclosure
37herc burning CHAT was III full ope-
#atlon there was cracl1-a sharp retort
3fglke pistol. The heat had Just broken
Through dead man s skull. 1t was the
last human part to protest against the
8Xtlnguishmcnt of death.
i The funeral pile of poor Hindoo
ooks like an ordinary kitchen yard
3vood pile But if You go up close to It
'ou discover something very like u hui
8nan form, aglowing, charred mass, dis
&mguished from every other shape, ami
#natc or inanimatc, for the Hindoos lit
orally purify their dead by fire The
43)ody is burned until absolutely nothing
&emains but handful of ashes, ashcs
HSholly free from any unclcan or poison
)us matter. As tho writer was closely
H>bscrving the glowing pile new body
Swas brought i'll and the rite begun
Two coolies carried the body upon
&:udc litter, woven from coarse grasses
4md held together by outlines of bamboo.
! Two of the dead mans brothers follow
Nd, chatting pleasantly. Four stout
$;tlcks of wood We're driven upright into
&thc ground, at the corners of an imagi-
anary parallclogram about six feet by
two. Between these four posts were
$looscly laid sticks of dry, cheap wood
4Whcn the pile was little moro than
three feet high, the body was laid upon
alt y dirty piece of crash, of the quality
the coolies wear about their loins, partly
wrapped the dead, One OF the brothers
stepped up and poured about four ounces
5of oil over the body. This insured
dquiclicr cremation, but was something
4 OF Il luxury and not Il universal practice
The oil must have cost about three picc
The other brother paid the coolies, who
lshouldcrcd the light, empty litter and
Rmmchcd gayly out
4 More wood was piled upon tho dead
4 A thin stick was lighted at the other
Funeral pile, which was now flaming
finely, the second pile was lighted, and
the cremation of the newcomer was be-
gun. The two brothers appeared very
interested iI&ihc igniting and decidedly
pleased when it was accomplished They
squattcd down upon the ground, just so
far from the pile that they might feel
that their scant, filthy garments were
fairly safe from the sparks, but near
enough to watch all the changing phases
OF the cremation and to SEQ easily when
1t WAS consunmatcd.
They united dirty rag from about a
small bundle one of them had brought
With them. They took out small earth
ell bowl, 1t was clean and shining, and
SO was the brass chattec each lifted from
his filthy turbancd head The chattecs
held water The bowl held curry and
rice. They fell to eating with gusto
And, pray why not! They We're eating
to live. Their brother was burning to
hvc-to live i'll Hindoo paradise From
A &c L..
far more blessed.
The cremation which was i'll full blast
when the writer arrived was finally
completed. Two distinct kinds of ashes
were left, The human ashes were care
fully gathered into an old chattce. The
authorities do not allow those ashes to
be thrown into the river, and they are
never thrown there i'll the presence Of
Europeans. The ashes of the wood were
swept swiftly away. The bits of wood
not quite burned We're frugally collected
to be utilized in the next pile.
Tho correspondent also tells of Il visit
to burning CHAT after shutdown
might, f" she goes on, sis the time of
Hindoo leisure, as indeed it is of most
primitive peoples. The Enclosure was
crowded with burning piles.
eve sailed down the Ganges The
outlines of the attendants Of the dead
snd of the funeral pile were sharply
selhoucttcd against the black background
Of the dark night by the flames of the
Tewsomc death fires. And from that
part of the shore sacred to Hindoo wor-
ship came the shriclSing and the songs
of many thousand half mad devotees.
I'm primitive part of interior India
once saw q maharajah's funeral pile.
1t had cost 4 positive fortune 1t was
built of expensive spicy woods and sat