Tonight I had my first view of the ritual burning of the dead on the Varanssi ghats.
There were 22 bodies and family groups in sight during the time we were standing there at just one ghat at 8.30 in the evening. There are ghats (broad stairways littered with temples) all along Varanassi's banks down to the Ganges where it is a great honour to be cremated.
I have just walked amongst families weighing dried wood on giant scales to buy and build a pire for their loved-one and then watched as others made final preparations by having the body placed upon the pire and adorning it with gifts of biscuits and sweet smelling spices and foods. The bodies are shrouded in white silk which when a pire is lit, burns very quickly revealing the body beneath.
There were a few macabre silhouettes but fundamentally I was not revolted, afraid or especially moved. My companion who has been here before felt great compassion for the grieving families but I struggled with this as they (99% male) seemed as emotionless as the men standing in the aisle of the bus, some were on their mobile phones and one even took a photo of his loved one's lifeless face before the pire was lit. I am not sure what to make of it other than my regular pragmatism which says that this is just what they do here. I'll go back tomorrow and see if things change ...happy Christmas folks.
There were 22 bodies and family groups in sight during the time we were standing there at just one ghat at 8.30 in the evening. There are ghats (broad stairways littered with temples) all along Varanassi's banks down to the Ganges where it is a great honour to be cremated.
I have just walked amongst families weighing dried wood on giant scales to buy and build a pire for their loved-one and then watched as others made final preparations by having the body placed upon the pire and adorning it with gifts of biscuits and sweet smelling spices and foods. The bodies are shrouded in white silk which when a pire is lit, burns very quickly revealing the body beneath.
There were a few macabre silhouettes but fundamentally I was not revolted, afraid or especially moved. My companion who has been here before felt great compassion for the grieving families but I struggled with this as they (99% male) seemed as emotionless as the men standing in the aisle of the bus, some were on their mobile phones and one even took a photo of his loved one's lifeless face before the pire was lit. I am not sure what to make of it other than my regular pragmatism which says that this is just what they do here. I'll go back tomorrow and see if things change ...happy Christmas folks.
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