Viewing entries tagged
cremation

The Unique City of Varanasi

The Unique City of Varanasi

It’s now been two months since I arrived in India, yet at every turn I am surprised by what this country has to offer. Every city I visit in India is unlike anything I’ve seen before in my life, but unless you manage to escape into the mountains like I did in Dharamsala, Indian cities are a never-ending bombardment on the senses full of horns, dust, heat, people, and general chaos. I’ve slowly managed to acclimate myself to the environment here and now feel I’m capable of dealing with most things India throws at me. When I first arrived in New Delhi, walking around the city was an utterly exhausting experience, but I thought I had seen the worst of it until I visited Varanasi.

Burning Man... Literally!

Burning Man... Literally!

Of all the questionable and otherwise disturbing images I’ve seen over my lifetime, none is more ingrained in my mind than the first cremation I witnessed at Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi. I’ve long since given up on holding expectations of what I will see, do, and experience on my travels, but I never imagined that one day I would watch a man’s body burn to ashes before my very eyes. After my trip to Auschwitz a few months ago, I was curious what a cremation was like since I only knew about it in theory. It was merely a passing thought at the time, but here in Varanasi, my wish was unexpectedly granted and it’s an experience I will never forget.