Tuesday, 18 November 2014, Varanasi
The dead are cremated 24 hours per day, seven days a week in Varanasi. Six hundred bodies are cremated here each day. A person cremated in Varanasi is believed to end the circle of life and avoid further reincarnation. Five types of persons may not be cremated: priests, infants, lepers, pregnent women, and persons killed by a snake. A family is given three hours to complete cremation. If the cremation is incomplete at that time, the remains are placed in the river. Each fire in the photo is a separate cremation.
 |
| Manikarnika Ghat |
