#burningghats

Another early morning start with an alarm at 5am to be down at the Ganges for just before 6 so we could negotiate a price for a boat along the river for sunrise. We managed to agree on 400rps for an hour starting at the Dashashwamedh ghat and heading to the small burning ghat and then back up to the big one. The sunset was pretty non eventful due to the fog/smog but it was a great trip none the less.

We went back to our guesthouse for breakfast and then at about 11am the owner Kundan took us to a school that he has founded for some kids from the local slums. We were able to sit in on a bit of an English lesson and Oz played some football with them at break time.

After this we took a Tuk Tuk up to Sarnath, a sacred place in India for Buddhists. It was about an hour away, in hindsight a car would have been better as the pollution was horrendous and we didn’t have masks! Our plan was to go to the Garden of Spiritual Wisdom but found ourselves visiting all the nearby monuments - Dhanek stupa where Buddha supposedly took his first sermon, the deer park where there are other Buddhist temples and statues. The Garden was as peaceful, tranquil and beautifully kept as last time I came.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant who’s owners fund a local school, it was slightly more pricey because of this but worth the money. I had my first dosa of the trip and Oz had a biryani, both pretty good.

We headed home and stopped at the large burning ghats Manikarnika where a local joined us and explained what was going on, the history and the rituals. Neither of us have been this close to dead bodies before and probably saw 5 or 6 (fully covered). We learnt that there are around 80 bodies cremated here daily, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Women are not permitted as they are too emotional and people aren’t allowed to cry (one lady threw herself into the burning embers of her husband - another reason to ban them. Only 5 types of people cannot be cremated 1) pregnant women 2) under 15’s 3) lepers 4) those bitten by a cobra 5) holy men. These bodies are taken out to the river and sunk using rocks tied to them. Any jewellery and gold teeth are left on the deceased and the guys who tend the fires are permitted to sift through the ashes and take any gold they come across as part of the reward for their work. The hip bone of a woman and chest bone of a man burn much slower than the rest of the body so these parts would be taken by the husband/son/brother of the deceased and ceremoniously thrown into the river.

It is totally fascinating, such an ancient ritual and unlike anything we have at home.