The Cremator

Gyan Bahadur Acharya has been cremating the dead in the Bhasmeshwor Ghat of Pashupatinath Temple for three decades. Now in his seventies, he is the oldest cremator. He reflects on it all — wealth, religion, family, strength, the living and the dead. This documentary portrait of Gyan Bahadur attempts to unravel the knots in the time and experiences of the many years the cremator has spent by the blazing pyres. Set against the backdrop of charred wood and smoke, the film is a triggering experience, a reflection of what death looks and smells like in the Ghats. Gyan Bahadur is a man of conflicting nature, all of which has made him come to accept death as it is. He reminds us of an inevitable fact of life – everyone ultimately dies.