Photo source, Reuters

Sonalal Pandit, who owns Pokhria-7 in Parsa district, used to work as a contractor for house construction at Devighat in Nuwakot.

On the day of the flood, he was working in the market.

According to his family members, others who were working with the Pandit fled after hearing the flood, but he, who had no part of one knee and walked with the help of crutches, could not escape.

"In some videos Dai is seen knee-deep in water, then there is no news," his brother Pannalal told the BBC.

"With that, we reached Nidho where he was not and on the fifth day of the incident, we made an idol of Kush and performed the last rites."

Similarly, journalist Nirajan Paudel also made a replica of Kush and buried five members of his family on Wednesday.

Five members of Paudel's family, including his parents, uncle and sister, went missing from Vidur Municipality-7, Betravati, Nuwakot in the devastating flood that occurred on the 10th of August.

"Since there was no reason to meet them, it was decided to take action after consulting all of them," said Paudel.

Officials have said that the number of people performing the last rites of their loved ones by making an idol of Kush at Pashupati Aryaghat in Kathmandu has also started increasing since Wednesday.

"Our records show that three people were cremated on Wednesday," Surya Bhat, Information Officer of the Pashupati Area Development Fund, told the BBC.

According to the statistics of the National Disaster Authority, 1,252 people have died in Nepal and more than 4,200 people are still without contact due to the disaster caused by the flood.

According to Devmani Bhattarai, a theologian and a professor of Nepal Sanskrit University, the method of cremation is mentioned in the scriptures including 'Dharmasindhu' and 'Nirnayasindhu'.

"The person who sees his wife falling from his hand, (for example, some incidents may have been seen on video or some say that his wife ran from the side but could not be saved) there is no need to wait for that nature," he said.

"If the dead body is not found, there is no time to wait, and if it can be done within ten days, then only the remaining days are valid. That is, from the tenth day to the thirteenth day, the action can be performed."

"It has not been seen directly, but if the village is washed away and there is nothing left, then it is believed that Jojo was there, his family does not have to wait - it is done by Kushko."

"Those who are concerned, whether they wait for 15 days or the DNA test done by the government, that is a matter of their personal freedom," said Bhattarai, "In that case, a decision can be made with the help of brothers, relatives, society and sometimes the administration."

"Perhaps those who are now out of touch will come back later, but there is still a method to perform Shodash rites and all the rites since birth."

Image source, Chhewang Rigzin

In various other religious communities, the religious farewell process of some uncontacted people has already started, according to the relevant experts.

"Families of some of the uncontacted have started religious rituals, but many are confused as their homes have also been affected. We are praying for collective peace of mind," said Acharya Chhewang Rigjin, president of the World Forum for Buddhism.

"We believe that the dead will not be reborn for 49 days. In this case, the seventh, twenty-first and fifty-ninth days are important," he said.

Similarly, Bir Bahadur Tamang, the treasurer of the 'Churches Fellowship of Nepal', an organization of Christian churches, said that those who are generally uncontacted in the Christian society "will only wish for them to be found until it is officially confirmed that they have died".

"When bodies are found or when the government declares them dead, we hold a prayer and tribute meeting with their pictures."

Theologian Bhattarai says that performing rituals by making an image of Kush is important both religiously and spiritually.

"After it is said that your person is no more, doing the work will also bring peace to the departed and they will get at least some relief, so it will give peace to the family."

Psychologist Anjan Kumar Dhakal also says that the family will feel satisfied when they say goodbye to their loved ones. "Therefore, apart from its religious and cultural significance, it also has psychological significance."

"It will have a good effect on the family as well as the community when the father's work is done according to religion and the deceased will find peace."

Pannalal Pandit, brother of Sonalal of Parsa, says that such religious activities give peace of mind to a certain extent. "The pain of people's loss is still going away, but we have been hearing that such actions are important in such incidents that happen outside the home."

In addition, some people on social media are commenting that the family was in an unnecessary hurry or could not even wait for a few days in the case of flood.

But experts say that people make such comments without understanding.

"The people who are doing that are not in a hurry. If it is not done within ten days, they have to bear the pain for another 13 days," says Dharmashastri Bhattarai.

According to Bhat of Pashupati Area Development Fund, the fund has made arrangements for free funeral of those who disappeared due to floods.

"The fee of Kriyaputri Bhavan has also been waived for those who come with the recommendation of flood victims."

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