These images pre-date the devastating April 2015 earthquake which caused widespread damage and loss of life across the Kathmandu Valley.

Pashupatinath, on the eastern outskirts of Kathmandu, is a place of pilgrimage for Hindus, especially for those who worship Shiva above all as Creator and Destroyer. Here, Nepalese Hindus cremate their dead on the banks of the sacred Bagmati river (a trickle of unadulterated filth). Visitors watch from across the river, as bodies wrapped in marigold cloth are laid on the pyres, mourners gather around, some suitably distraught, then the pyre finally lit. When only ashes remain, they are swept into the river - men wade through the filth, clearing the waterway. Closed to rest of us, a VIP cremation was taking place just upstream, on the steps of the Pashupatinath Mandir temple. Many outrageously-garbed Indian sadhus hang about, cadging shamelessly.

These images were taken with Nikon D300 using RAW format, and are available for licensing.