Also known as Benares, Varanasi is the spiritual capital of India, it is the holiest of the seven sacred cities (Sapta Puri) in Hinduism and Jainism. The city has been a cultural centre of North India for several thousand years, and is closely associated with the Ganges. Hindus believe that death in the city will bring salvation, making it a major centre for pilgrimage.
The Ghats in Varanasi are riverfront steps leading to the banks of the River Ganges where pilgrims perform ritual ablutions. Varanasi has 87 ghats, most of which are used for bathing by pilgrims and spiritually significant Hindu puja ceremony, while a few, like Manikarnika Ghat, are used exclusively as Hindu cremation sites.
Manikarnika Ghat is one of the most sacred ghats for Hindu religion and mythology. It is said that cremation at this site ensures that one’s soul rests in perpetual peace upon their earthly demise. For centuries, a funerary rite at Manikarnika Ghat has been thought to provide one with immediate liberation from the endless cycle of rebirth.
The Manikarnika Ghat is epitomized by the juxtaposition of the sacred well of Manikarnika Kund, ploughed by Lord Vishnu during the time of creation and destruction. The Ghat is also famous for its temple dedicated to Shiva and Mata Durga, built around 1850 AD by the Maharaja of Awadh.
The funerary sanctuary is one of the key places for the Shaktism sect of Hinduism and the temple is a holy shrine for devotees, providing visits to the site on a daily basis. It is here that the pond Chakra-Pushkarini Kund, also known as Manikarnika Kund, can be found as well. Devotees believe that the Charanapaduka (footprints) of Lord Vishnu are in a round marble slab, for the deity is said to have mediated for many years at the Ghat.
The burning of one’s body upon their demise is fundamental in Hinduism, for the soul is purified and freed from the body. The cremation process is crucial in achieving nirvana, and the ritual’s many stages must be completed correctly or the soul will not transition to the afterlife.
Handled mostly by the Doms (a Bengali Hindu caste), bodies are brought shrouded in cloths and put on bamboo stretchers in preparation for the cremation ritual. The human remains are then consigned to the flames – with the hot ashes of the bodies acting as a reminder of the predestined destruction of everything within the world.
Curiously, Manikarnika Ghat is known for its vibrant atmosphere. Death is not taken unconscientiously but it is perceived with a distinctive approach here. It isn’t one of sadness but of a ‘shedding of the skin’ that is no longer necessary.
This funerary site is thus renowned paradoxically for its vitality - where people commemorate both the living and the deceased. Families play games together, they move in and out between the vast quantities of wood collected for the cremation of bodies, animals roam during burial gatherings and ceremonies, and it has become a center for tourists in recent decades as well. Manikarnika Ghat truly is a special place for Hindu funerary rites.
Our pictures were taken during a sunrise boat ride along the Ganges which ended at the Manikarnika Ghat.
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