{"id":19917,"date":"2026-09-03T16:35:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=19917"},"modified":"2026-09-03T16:35:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:35:11","slug":"nepal-floods-nepal-floods-no-bodies-to-cremate-kin-burn-kusha-effigies-as-hopes-fade-for-missing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=19917","title":{"rendered":"Nepal Floods: Nepal floods: No bodies to cremate, kin burn kusha effigies as hopes fade for missing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-133741266,imgsize-131780,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/nepal-floods.jpg\" alt=\"Nepal floods: No bodies to cremate, kin burn kusha effigies as hopes fade for  missing\" title=\"People gather next to funeral pyres during cremation rituals using effigies as missing bodies remain unfound, on the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"People gather next to funeral pyres during cremation rituals using effigies as missing bodies remain unfound, on the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal\">People gather next to funeral pyres during cremation rituals using effigies as missing bodies remain unfound, on the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>TRISHULI BAZAAR (NUWAKOT): Families in flood-ravaged Nuwakot and Rasuwa who could not find missing relatives \u2014 or their bodies \u2014 began performing symbolic cremations with human-shaped effigies made from kusha, a sacred grass used in Hindu rituals.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"2\"\/>After days of searching hospitals, morgues, riverbanks and recovery lists, relatives lit the effigies on pyres at cremation sites so they could begin mourning.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"4\"\/>In Nuwakot, families gathered along Trishuli river for the rites as priests shaped bundles of kusha to represent the missing person, placed them on wooden pyres and guided relatives through the same rituals normally performed over a body.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"6\"\/>Families from Rasuwa, one of the worst-hit districts, also began holding such funerals or travelling to cremation grounds after repeated searches failed to locate their kin.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"10\"\/>Rozel Shrestha, 12, performed the rites for his father, Krishna Shrestha, 37, who disappeared in Rasuwa.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/>Krishna\u2019s brother Jeevan Shrestha said the family had searched widely before accepting that they might never recover his body.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"14\"\/>\u201cWe searched everywhere, went to morgues across the country, but could not find his body,\u201d he said. \u201cThe family eventually decided we had to perform our traditional rituals to liberate his soul.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>Relatives of Raj Kumar Shrestha, 30, performed his last rites with a kusha effigy after searching for six days. The family had received a photograph of a body resembling him and travelled to Simtar in Nuwakot, but the body had already been moved.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"20\"\/>They could not trace it afterwards. Nirajan Poudel of Bidur municipality performed rites for five relatives \u2014 his parents, uncle, aunt and cousin \u2014 after none could be found.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"23\"\/>Similar scenes later unfolded at Pashupati Aryaghat in Kathmandu, where more than 100 kusha effigies were cremated in a single day. Tapindra Prasad Timalsina was among those who performed last rites there for Sabin, 21. A priest prepared the effigy and relatives poured water over it before Timalsina lit the pyre. \u201cIt weighs heavily on my heart,\u201d he said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"25\"\/>Devmani Bhattarai, a professor at Nepal Sanskrit University, said Hindu scriptures permit families to perform last rites with an effigy when a body cannot be recovered and there is clear evidence that a relative was swept away or if an entire settlement was destroyed. \u201cIf the body has not been found, there is no time to wait,\u201d he told TOI on phone.<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/world\/south-asia\/nepal-floods-no-bodies-to-cremate-kin-burn-kusha-effigies-as-hopes-fade-for-missing\/articleshow\/133741117.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People gather next to funeral pyres during cremation rituals using effigies as missing bodies remain unfound, on the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal TRISHULI BAZAAR (NUWAKOT): Families in flood-ravaged Nuwakot and Rasuwa who could not find missing relatives \u2014 or their bodies \u2014 began performing symbolic cremations with human-shaped effigies made from kusha, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nepal-floods.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nepal-floods.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nepal-floods.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nepal-floods.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nepal-floods.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nepal-floods.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nepal-floods.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nepal-floods.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nepal-floods.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nepal-floods.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nepal-floods.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nepal-floods.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nepal-floods.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nepal-floods.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"People gather next to funeral pyres during cremation rituals using effigies as missing bodies remain unfound, on the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal TRISHULI BAZAAR (NUWAKOT): Families in flood-ravaged Nuwakot and Rasuwa who could not find missing relatives \u2014 or their bodies \u2014 began performing symbolic cremations with human-shaped effigies made from kusha, [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 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