KATHMANDU, Nepal (RNS) — The Pashupatinath Temple complex in Nepal is one of the world's most important sites dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, comprising more than 500 temples, shrines, ashrams and monuments. Located on the banks of the Bagmati River in the Himalayan country's capital, Kathmandu, the temple is also the seat of Nepal's national deity, Lord Pashupatinath. It is here that many Nepalis bring their dead for Hindu cremation rituals.

Hindus understand that death is a part of life and an important step on the soul's journey.

When a person dies, relatives ritually wash the wrapped body in the river's waters before cremating it on wooden pyres built on one of several platforms along the river.

Hindus are expected to cremate a deceased person's body within 24 hours of death. The ritual cremation is believed to help sever the person from their earthly experience and expedite the soul's spiritual journey. Hindus believe that a human must return to the five elements, and cremation is faster for that process than burial.

Once the cremation is complete, and everything has been reduced to ashes, the remains are put in the Bagmati River to be returned to nature.