Burning "Cremation" Ghats
Some 250 corpses a day are dealt with at the burning ghats. Once the cremation is complete, the remains are scattered to the four elements, with most of the ashes ending up in the water, floating merrily on their way to moksha.
The Ganges cleanses all sins and ensures a release from the Hindu cycle of rebirths: it's an instant passport to heaven. Many elderly and ill people come to Varanasi to die, and old Sadhus (men who have given up their worldly possessions for a life of absolute religious devotion) congregate along the river banks.
Mark Twain visited over a century ago and commented that Varanasi was 'older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together'.
Varanasi is best known for its ghats - there are over 100 of the riverside structures. While most of the ghats are used for sacred bathing by pilgrims, it is the few burning ghats - easily accessible to visitors - that really grip the ghoulish.
Burning ghats, such as the auspicious Manikarnika Ghat, are where the dead are cremated. First thing in the morning is the best time to observe the death rituals in Varanasi; the light is at its most striking, draping a honey glow across the buildings rising steeply from the river.
In India death - like defecation - happens in public: funeral pyres are open to everyone, and there's little of the fear or squeamishness everpresent in Western funeral parlours. Little kids rummage through the ashes for valuables that the owners will no longer be needing, while only metres away the devout cleanse themselves in the (slightly ashy) waters of the Ganges.
To begin the ceremonies, the shrouded corpse is carried through the streets by outcasts known as chandal, followed by the deceased's family, chanting and praying. Funeral pyres are built and tended to all day, and cremations regularly take place simultaneously on the same ghat. The Dom Rajas are keepers of the sacred fire - which is never allowed to be extinguished - and cremators of the dead. Armed with wooden sticks, they poke at the fires, keeping things moving along.
Burning "Cremation" Ghats
Some 250 corpses a day are dealt with at the burning ghats. Once the cremation is complete, the remains are scattered to the four elements, with most of the ashes ending up in the water, floating merrily on their way to moksha.
The Ganges cleanses all sins and ensures a release from the Hindu cycle of rebirths: it's an instant passport to heaven. Many elderly and ill people come to Varanasi to die, and old Sadhus (men who have given up their worldly possessions for a life of absolute religious devotion) congregate along the river banks.
Mark Twain visited over a century ago and commented that Varanasi was 'older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together'.
Varanasi is best known for its ghats - there are over 100 of the riverside structures. While most of the ghats are used for sacred bathing by pilgrims, it is the few burning ghats - easily accessible to visitors - that really grip the ghoulish.
Burning ghats, such as the auspicious Manikarnika Ghat, are where the dead are cremated. First thing in the morning is the best time to observe the death rituals in Varanasi; the light is at its most striking, draping a honey glow across the buildings rising steeply from the river.
In India death - like defecation - happens in public: funeral pyres are open to everyone, and there's little of the fear or squeamishness everpresent in Western funeral parlours. Little kids rummage through the ashes for valuables that the owners will no longer be needing, while only metres away the devout cleanse themselves in the (slightly ashy) waters of the Ganges.
To begin the ceremonies, the shrouded corpse is carried through the streets by outcasts known as chandal, followed by the deceased's family, chanting and praying. Funeral pyres are built and tended to all day, and cremations regularly take place simultaneously on the same ghat. The Dom Rajas are keepers of the sacred fire - which is never allowed to be extinguished - and cremators of the dead. Armed with wooden sticks, they poke at the fires, keeping things moving along.