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Album: By Country | By Date India | May 2001 < Prev: Varanasi, Holy City on a Sacred River | Next: The Old City >
Travelogue: By Country | By Date India | May 2001  

May 2001 - On The Banks Of The Ganges

Shrines, fiery worship, laundry, cremations, tea stands, ritual bathing, death, and swimming all in the same spot

The Ganges really does curve at this point but not this much. On the far right is Harishchandra Ghat, a burning ghat. The orangish speck is the dress of a young girl who seems to help with the cremations. Although our pictures tend to make things appear cleaner than they are.
Mark buying litchi (that's lee chee) fruit. He is in the middle of haggling over the price. Varanasi street scene Fabric detail
In the evening there are all sorts of parades and processions. This one included a band Little girl at shrine on Dasaswamedh Ghat A fiery puja at Dasaswamedh Ghat Fiery ceremony
Most business of substance have one of these around. It's a portable generator to be put to use during the city's frequent power outages. Maggie asleep with Tea, a little bear that was a gift from Grandma Avis before we left. This man's business is painting large marks on heads
Adjacent to the swimmers along this section of the Ganges, is the laundry. These guys rub and sling clothes against flat rocks at the River's edge. Just to their right there are bodies being covered with wood and cremation bonfires An electric crematorium A boat with the body of a sadhu stops near the laundry for pictures. Then they sailed a bit farther out and dumped the body, the stretcher, and the cloths overboard. lingam and yoni at a little shrine
Watching the bathers bathing in the Ganges Another head mark man boats
Kid and boats Two smiling kids and boats. Of the three girls, only the girl in white goes to school. She was very articulate and charming. She sells tiny little votive candles made from a spot of wax and a wick on a tiny dish about the size of a half dollar. Sadhu's live in the house on the left. Market ladies on the way back from the ghat
market Duncan walking in front of a shrine