The last cremation in our shmashan took place in 1995, on the 8th of July.

In India a raja is supposed to be equal to one million common people. If one raja is cremated it is believed that one million people are cremated.

Before the death of this raja the atmosphere here was very different. Everything was absolutely quite, even the wind was not blowing.

Ten days before the raja was to be cremated (he was still alive) more than four hundred vultures landed on the spot. It looked like a sort of a meeting. We were emptying the pond and bringing the water here when the birds appeared. They came from the east. The last to come was a very big vulture — it looked like a king of the vultures, maybe one and a half times bigger than a normal one. Very impressive. Me and three-four of my disciples were here, and it was between eleven and twelve in the noon. When that big vulture landed, all the vultures gave him the way towards the water. He walked with great style to the water, took three sips and flew towards the North. And one by one all the vultures flew away.

We have never seen a vulture again in this area — they have simply disappeared. And before the big vulture landed there used to be lots of these birds here.