Early each morning, thousands of people can be found lining the banks of the River Ganges, along the ghats, or stairways, leading to the water. You'll see them meditating, bathing and socializing.
Most Hindus hope to visit the city during their lifetime. They not only bathe in the water, they drink it and wash their clothes in it. Many come to Varanasi to die, the ultimate is to be cremated along the bank and the ashes washed into the river.18 Death is big business in Varanasi because of the beliefs relating to the power of the Ganges. The process is detailed in a book entitled "Death in Banaris" (the former name for the city).
The washermen are seen all along the bank beating their clothes clean on the rocks and drying them in the sun.
The buildings along the Ganges here are among the most expensive in the city. The richest man in the city...in charge of cremations...lives here.
Other of the buildings are occupied by the elderly who have come to Varanasi to die next to "Mother River."
