Manikarnika Ghat, the main burning ghat, in Varanasi is the most auspicious place for a Hindu to be cremated. Dead bodies are handled by outcasts, and carried through the the narrow lanes of the Old City to the holy Ganges on a bamboo stretcher swathed in cloth. The corpse is dosed in the Ganges prior to cremation. Huge piles of firewood are stacked along the top of this privately owned ghat, and every pile is carefully weighed on gigantic scales so the price of the cremation can be calculated(very much like our funeral homes). There is an art to using just the right amount of wood to completely incinerate a body. You can watch the cremations, but photography is strictly forbidden, but I did see some tricky tourists take a couple pictures on the sly.
This fire has not been allowed to die out and has been burning for over 3000 years. It is used as a starter for each cremation. Long reeds bundled together are used as torches.
Women and men shave their heads in honour of deceased loved ones.
This is the large scale to weigh the wood.
This area is the cremation site for privileged VIPS. It's upstairs in a building situated at the burning ghat.
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