Nepal began exorcising the ghosts of its royal massacre yesterday with a traditional Hindu ceremony in which a holy man sacrificed his future for the woes of the past.
A Brahmin priest, the holiest figure in the Hindu faith, broke one of the ancient religion's most sacred taboos in order to assume the ill fortune of a troubled palace.
Dressed to appear as a likeness of slain King Birendra, the priest - a vegetarian all his life - ate a meal laced with animal marrow before leaving on elephant back on self-imposed exile in a remote part of the Himalayan mountain kingdom.
A similar ceremony will be held for Birendra's son, Dipendra, who, witnesses say, mowed down the king, queen and seven other relatives before turning a rifle on himself.
He was named king briefly as he lay dying in a coma, and so by tradition the katto ceremony must be held for him as well. It will take place tomorrow.
Nepalis hope that the ceremonies - along with a commission investigating the June 1st massacre - will finally draw the curtain on one of the saddest chapters in the kingdom's history.
The commission's report is due to be complete on Thursday, but government insiders have said its findings would only be made public next Monday, after the new king, Gyanendra, has had a chance to review it.
The final traditional cleansing of the palace massacre took an inauspicious turn at the weekend when an elephant picked to carry the likeness of Birendra into exile killed a woman.
The Kathmandu Post said Kali Bista, the mother of three girls in her early 30s, was picked up by the elephant, Moti Prasad, and tossed aside as she tried to walk under its belly. According to local superstition, a woman will conceive a son if she passes under an elephant.