Welcome to Varanasi, said to be one of the Holiest places in the world.
Located on the sacred Ganges river, Varanasi's spiritual culture is so rich and facinating we feel we must share with you what we have learned. This will be an intese blog, therefore we are giving you fair warning. We hope that this little blog may provide you with some insight into a culture and religion that you may not be familiar with; Hinduism. Enjoy the blog, and if you have any questions please let us know, and I'm sure we can find out the answer for you! We love all of you so much. Here goes...

If they have the means to do so, Hindu's are expected to make a Holy Pilgrimage once a year. The Ganges river is a special pilgrimage because most people who make the trip here are old and/ or terminally ill, and wish to die here, have their body cremated, and ashes thrust into the river. Many other people visit the Ganges to bathe in the Holy water and thus purify their souls. The river's water is believed to be so powerful that once you bathe in it your soul is pure.
For 5,ooo years Hindu's have been cremated on the river banks of the Ganges. This process is done openly, and all (except female family members, but I will explain that later) are welcome to watch. Male family members of the deceased must shave their heads and faces, in order to participate in the ceremony. However, not everyone can be cremated at the Burning Ghats along the Ganges. At Manikarnika Ghat, only those who have died of natural causes can be cremated here. Further down the river at Harishchandra Ghat, those who have been murdered or have had accidental deaths must be burned here, away from the others. Hindus believe that accidental deaths and murders are results of bad Karma, thus seperating them from those with good Karma is essential.

The cremations are done 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. At Manikarnika Ghat alone, 300-400 bodies are cremated each day.

To prepare for the cremation ceremony, the bodies are first washed in the Holy Ganges, for purification. Women relatives are not allowed to be present for the cremation. This is due to an old Hindu tradition that forced the widowed wives to jump onto her deceased husbands body while he was being cremated, thus commiting a sort of forced suicide. More than a tradition, this was an unwritten law, and in recent years women have been banned for their own protection.

After the body is purified it is delicately brought to the river banks and placed atop carefully constructed piles of wood which are burned during cremation. The closest male relative lights a switch of wood from the Eternal Flame ( which we are told has been kept burning for 5,000 years). No matches or any type of artificial flame can be used...only the fire from the Eternal Flame. After the switch is ignited the male walks around the body 5 times, to symbolize the 5 sources of life : Earth, water, air, sky, and fire. He then lights the body on fire and the cremation officially begins. This was the single most intense thing we have ever witnessed. At any given time there are 6 or more bodies burning at this Ghat. This is all done in the open, and my bleeding heart had a difficult time fighting hysterics. Once the tears began, and I was almost out of control, I was approached by a gentleman and was told I must stop crying immediatly. He explained that one must not cry for the deceased while he/ she is being cremated because their soul will not be able to be set free. He explained that crying holds the soul back, and I was not about to have that kind of guilt on my conscience, so I just cried on the inside.

The lowest caste (class) in the Hindu society are called the "Untouchables". These poor( I use this word literally and figuratively here) people have the responsiblity to work at these Ghats their entire lives. They are the only Caste that are forced to do this depressing job of tending to the fires of burning people.
After the body is cremated the skull still remains. The elder male must take a bamboo stick and crack the skull open. This releases the soul and sets it free. The ashes of the body are sprinkled into the Ganges and the family continues to pray for the soul of the deceased.

Some instances occur, however, that prevent a body from being cremated. These include the following: Children under the age of ten are never to be cremated because their soul is still pure and their Karma good. Pregnant women, because they are carrying an innocent soul. Holy Men, because they dedicate their lives to the Gods and their souls are pure. Animals, because they too are innocent and pure souls. Lastly, people that have died from Leprosy, poisoning, or snake bites, because cremating them would release toxins into the air that would harm others.
These people are instead tied to stones and placed ceremonoiusly into the river where they sink to the bottom...and hopefully do not rise up, but that is not always the case, as we found out...The witnessing of dead bodies floating down a river would dampen anyone's day, take it from us.

This whole process left us drained, baffled, melancholy, and distressed, but truly enlightened and actually envious of their undying Faith. I realized that when I was weeping it was not beacause I was watching a human body being burned, it was because actual beauty of faith moved me. Faith is such a miraculous thing, and to be amongst so many people filled with such faith I was moved to tears.

I have been struggling with faith in any God or higher power for many years now, and it is no secret that I consider myself agnostic, but when I say struggling, I mean it. I just finished a truly remarkable book titled The Life of Pi, by Yann Martel. The author discussed this very struggle. He said that he understood believers, and he understood atheists, but just could not come to understand someone that lives their entire life in doubt. He claims that these people( agnostics), must have a very exausting life always doubting, guessing and being confused. I completely understand because that is how I often feel. I wish I could enjoy the comfort of having faith and truly believing in a higher power, or to enjoy the similar comfort of rejecting religion completely and enjoying only scientific explanations of our existence. I am truly perplexed and envy the devout faith of others, especially those who so graciously allowed us to watch, experience, and learn from their Hindu Rituals. Thank you for the experience.
We love all of you back home and hope that this entry has been informative. We have not done research, and if any of this information is incorrect I apologize. I am just repeating what we learned from Holy Men, locals, and other Hindu's while we were in Varanasi.
Love from the Holiest River on Earth- Sam and Brad.