As efforts continue to rescue survivors from beneath the mounds of rubble across Kathmandu, the grieving Nepalese nation has begun the grim and daunting task of cremating the thousands of victims who were killed during Saturday"s devastating earthquake.

With the death toll now standing at more than 4,000, mass cremations have been taking place next to the Bagmati river, the waterway which divides the Nepalese capital, as mourning families attempt to give their loved one the honourable send-off so revered in Hindu tradition.

Today, plumes of white, acrid smoke could be seen floating across Kathmandu, as hundreds of bodies were burned in the ghats beside the river.

Around these ceremonies, families gathered, wailing in grief for their loved ones. Scores of dead children were wrapped in orange and gold cloth on the ground, as their relatives prayed for their souls in heartbreaking desperation.