We start this post while still on the Ganges River. Towards the downstream end of our journey both last night and today was the cremation ghat. Our local guide said that they cremate around 250 people a day, every day of the year in Varanasi. It’s my understanding that Hindus believe that dying in Varanasi and getting cremated there releases a person’s soul from the cycle of transmigrations. There was quite a pungent odor lingering in the air. Our guide said that each cremation takes about three to four hours and costs around $40 - $45 U.S. No women are allowed to attend the ceremony, a rule which dates back to the time of the British rule. That was because the Hindus expected the wife to kill herself at her husband’s cremation and get cremated along with her husband. So the British banned women’s presence to stop that practice.

We saw some ten to twelve cremations under way last night. Our local guide said that Varanasi is the only city in the world where cremations are done at night. That’s because they are not supposed to be done at night, but that the demand at Varanasi is so great, they had to make an exception. No cremations had started yet this morning though a couple of fires had been started. We also saw them washing a dead body in the Ganges which is one step which precedes the cremation. The first two photos are the Varanasi cremation ghat.

We got off our boat right next to the cremation ghat and walked into old town Varanasi. One of the first stores that we saw is in the last photo. These are cremation kits with everything you need for a proper cremation including sandalwood, a shroud, etc.