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Manikarnika Ghat
The Burning Ghat
The main cremation ghat, where the fires have never gone out. You may watch, respectfully and without cameras; ignore the 'guides' demanding money for firewood.
The burning ghat: funeral pyres burn around the clock, and to die in Kashi, for a Hindu, is to be freed from the cycle of rebirth. Watch from a boat or a respectful distance; put the camera away entirely. The hardest and most important place in the city, and the reason Varanasi has stood on the Ganga for three thousand years.
Who it suits
facing mortality from a boat, with respect
Staying here
Not a place to stay: you come and leave quietly.
In the evening
The fires never go out; photographing the ceremonies is forbidden.
Getting there
Along the riverfront on foot, or from a boat
What to see
Other areas of Varanasi
In the app: the city's areas on the map, the places inside and a route.
Open in India GO