Today started before sunrise with a boat ride on Gange Mate...Mother Ganges. The pilgrims and tourists were out in force and the river was packed with boatloads of folks wanting to see the dead cremated along the Ganges.
For Hindus this is actually a time of joy rather than grieving. As my guide Rajev explains it for a Hindu, to die here is to receive freedom from the endless cycle of reincarnation that is part of the Hindu beliefs. When one dies and is cremated here and their ashes spread on the Ganges River they go immediately to heaven and bypass reincarnation. That is why so many Hindus come to Varanasi to die.
The bodies are wrapped in orange shrouds and brought to the rivers edge. The family then purchases 300kg of wood for the funeral pyre. The families don't actually cremate the deceased. That is handled by the lowest class of the caste,the "untouchables".
The body is always placed on the funeral pyre with the feet facing the Ganges.
It takes approximately two hours for the body to fully burn. The ashes are then gathered and spread on the river by the family.
No females are permitted at the cremation, only the males. According to my guide Rajev this is to keep things calm and avoid the emotion.
On the way boat ride back from the place where the cremation takes place we also got to see the morning prayers that the Brahmans begin at sunrise. It is the same basic program just not the big production from that takes place at sunset. There was only one Brahman priest on the rivers edge as we sailed past.
As a westerner it is a very strange feeling to see a body burning. Even though you know it is a dead person it is just unsettling to see the head and feet appear totally disconnected at the middle by fire. An interesting morning to say the least......
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