Hatim came to know from his kind host that he was now in a village in India. The people here were known as the Hindus and although they practised very different rituals yet they too believed in the power of the Almighty God. One day, Hatim was taking a walk along the riverbed, when he got a chance to witness a Hindu ritual. He saw that a dead body was kept on a heap of dry wood. After covering the entire body with more dry wood, it was burned. People gathered around it and waited till there was nothing left of the fire but only ashes. Then they threw the ashes into the river. Hatim’s host explained to him that it was a funeral pyre. They believed that the fire would purify their souls and help them be one with their Lord. Hatim found the ritual strange, for he thought people should bury their dead. But even then, he paid due respect to the ritual followed by his hosts.
The Funeral Pyre
