Here we are at the temple and I thought the tower was going to be put onto this funeral pyre, but much to my surprise the cow was placed on there instead.

Here comes the happy cow, at this point we were not sure what was going to happen.

They are removing the coffin from the tower, this took a while and then they had to walk the coffin around the cow with all of the family and their offerings a number of times.  They then removed the body from the casket and put it into the opening on the back of the cow; they then brought offerings and floral oils to pour over the body.  They were finished and they took a photo of the woman and then prepared to set her on fire.

The amazing thing to us is the casket was thrown on the ground and the tower was thrown into the bush across the street to be burned, all that work and they just dispose of it without looking back.

She really is a happy looking cow, it was kind of sad to see her get burned up.  They are preparing the body by putting frangipani oil over her and accepting the offerings and putting them beside the body.

They are preparing to cut the back out of the cow so the body can be placed there.

They are walking the casket and her photo around the cow, they hold onto the rope to ensure her spirit doesn’t go away.  You have to remember this is what our taxi driver told me and I do believe I lost a lot in the translation.

Here you see the enterprising vendors selling their goods.

This lady was very happy and no one seemed to mind that she was selling batik material during the ceremony