Recently, while on a three-week vacation in India, my wife and I were purposely being rowed up and down the Ganges River near the ghats (stone steps leading to the water) of the holy Hindu city of Varanasi. The sun was just setting--the best time to see the funeral pyres.

Earlier that day, we had taken a walking tour along the ghats to learn more about the ancient Hindu practice of burning the bodies of the deceased. We learned that the wood—about 320 kilo—had to be purchased there on the ghats for the ceremony. Small amounts of scented woods such as Sandalwood and Myrrh can also be purchased to add a more pleasing fragrance to the fire’s smoke. In the late afternoon of each day, the newly deceased are transported to one of the burning stations on decorated stretchers which are sometimes carried by members of the family, but most often by paid bearers. The torsos are wrapped in cloth and the entire bodies were covered with a gold-lame-type of cloth. Once at its final destination, the head is uncovered and a priest pours water down the corpse’s throat---one last drink from the holy river, Ganges. The body is then placed on a row of logs. More logs are added around and on top of the body.

Prayers are said and the senior member of the family, his head shaven as a sign of mourning, lights the fire. All relatives and friends stay until body and wood are consumed and nothing remains but ashes.

The evening my wife and I were plying up and down the river, we saw the smoke and flames of at least 10 pyres. Now as I recount the scene, I ask myself why we had traveled hundreds of miles out of our way while in India to look at a bunch of bonfires. Deep down in my subconscious, I know the answer. I wanted to see a body burning in the core of the pyre. Well, I was disappointed.

I think it is part of human nature to be interested in death and the disposal of human remains. Articles about such matters frequently appear in print. A new book at the Library by Mark Harris is entitled “Grave Matters, A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial”. In his book, Mr. Harris argues that a natural woodland grave sans coffin is a better way to give back your flesh and blood to the earth.

“Postmortem, Establishing the Cause of Death” by Dr. Steven A. Koehler is also new to the Library’s collection. The author describes what happens in the legal and medical fields when a body is discovered. If the death is mysterious, one learns of the latest technologies used to determine the cause. Color photographs and illustrations show the entire process.


Pathologist Cyril Wecht, in “Tales from the Morgue” lets the reader shadow him as he examines a body at the death scene and in the morgue. Along the way, the reader learns how to recognize, collect, and analyze the forensic evidence which will lead to the conviction of the assailant or the exoneration of the wrongly accused.

A final (excuse the pun) book is entitled “Forensic Detective, How I Cracked the World’s Toughest Cases” by Robert Mann. The author, a forensic anthropologist, reveals some of the most sensational, macabre, and poignant cases he has worked. Errant body parts, skeletons in closets and a multitude of other homicides are all in a day’s work for this forensic detective.