Had Surendra's uncle Ram Chandra Magar been late by 10 minutes with Surendra's body, the funeral pyre would have been used by another earthquake victim. More than 10 other corpses covered in white cloths laid nearby, waiting for their turn at the funeral area.The cries of Sarita were constant as the funeral pyre consumed her husband's remans in less than 2 hours. As soon as the funeral was carried out, the platform was promptly washed and prepared for other ceremonies.
Surendra, 23, originally from Dhankuta, died along with two others while working at a five story building located at Machapokhari chowk near Balaju bus park.
Desperate to bring her relative's body for a proper funeral, Karishma KC demanded the cremation workers set up another pyre. She was visibly frustrated over the slow pace of the Magar Family's funeral.
"We all want to perfrom a respectful final rite for our deceased relatives. As you can see, we have been waiting for our turn for more than an hour. Everyone should cooperate and complete their funeral session without delays," said KC.
By then, more than 25 corpses were already cremated and 18 others were en-route from various hospitals and earthquake hit areas of Kathmandu.
According to Shamdhu Poudel, office assistant at Ghat Sewa Kendra Office of Pasupatinath Temple, there are 11 concrete funeral platform available to the public and its takes an average of 3 hours to complete a funeral service.
"The rush of people coming to perform the final rites of relatives on Saturday and Sunday was overwhelming. Bodies kept coming from hospitals while many others were delivered by locals. By tuesday, we had no choice but to let the public use the open areas surrounding the river for funeral rites," said Poudel.
"We get calls every 10-20 minutes by people requesting us to perform their rites. We are trying our best to cope with the situation," he added.
Remembering the mass funeral on Monday, a local tea shop seller said it was the worst scene she had encountered in her entire life. "All the dry areas near the river were set on fire. The sight of funerals fires and the resulting smell overwhelmed the Pasupatinath area. It gives me a chill thinking about that horrific night," said the elderly woman.
As per the record of Ghat Sewa Kendra Office, 490 bodies have been already cremated in the past four days. They received 68 bodies on Saturday, 160 on Sunday, 100 on Monday, 70 on Tuesday and 92 on Wednesday.
"Today, we have already received 6 bodies and more are on the way. We are prepared to meet this demand," Poudel said.
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