What I saw at the burning ghat
This probably isn’t the right place to start talking about Varanasi…or maybe it’s exactly the right place, I’m not sure. Anyway, the old town of Varanasi runs along the Ganges and there are a series of ghats (wide stone staircases) leading down to the river, where people bathe, wash clothes, do puja (giving offerings to the river), yoga…anything you can think of.
Some of the ghats are for specific rituals or uses; probably the most famous being Mankarnika Ghat, also known as the burning ghat. This is where families from all over India bring their loved ones to be cremated. To die in Varanasi or to be cremated here is a really big deal in Hinduism, so over 200 bodies are burned on the small slope each day. I spent some time on the ground near the ghat, just watching and walking through in between the fires, but then I watched the entire process from the balcony of a building overlooking the ghat, a building by the way where old people stay while waiting to die. Here’s what I saw…
First the family carries the body of their relative on a wood stretcher down to the river. The body is wrapped mummy-style in shiny gold fabric. They dip the body into the holy water of the river then set it out on the steps to dry, along with the others. After it’s dried, logs are stacked to create a platform, where the body is laid and unwrapped until only a light shroud remains. Rarely, families will uncover the face. I saw one of these and it was…strange, I guess. But mostly they are fully shrouded as they are anointed with butter, sandlewood, etc. A flame that has been lit from the eternal fire (said to have been burning continuously for 2,000 years) is brought down and the smoke is used to anoint the body before lighting the byre.
Then it burns. The family goes back into the waiting area overlooking the ghat for the three hours it takes. There are no tears or wailing because that would disturb the souls as they are liberated. Everyone is quiet.
When the body has burned, the eldest son goes back to get the part that has not burned – in men, the breastbone doesn’t burn, and in women, the pelvic bone doesn’t burn. The son takes the bone to the river and throws it in, before filling a clay urn with water. He takes the water back to the pyre and smashes it. With that, the connection between the loved one and the family is broken forever. The departed is truly departed; they are free. He turns around and forbidden to look back – even when he walks up the steps past the pyre, he hides his face.
I expected to be upset watching the bodies burn, especially when I saw the one with the uncovered face, but I wasn’t. The smoke and ashes were blowing in my eyes and mouth, and it didn’t matter because it suddenly became very, very clear – the most obvious thing in the world – that it’s no big deal. We are born and we die, and that’s all. In between we play a game called life but it’s just a game. A fun, funny, utterly wonderful game that we all play together, and it comes and it goes and it doesn’t mean anything. There’s no point to it. Which means there’s nothing I have to figure out or do or be or get. What is, is and what happens, happens. This may go against every cell in my high-strung, type A, overly intellectual and worrying nature…but I think I could get used to it.
Tags: Varanasi
sandyo
are you ready for a ghost from nong khai past?
i stumbled across- i.e. cyber-stalked- your name when i was rereading SDSEA. i kept following it after i left and this one, like the last, always makes me smile. i enjoyed being a character in sandy’s story- well, supporting character, ok, fuck it, an extra.
remember i was going to india next? i left after a month and a half- just never got better and when i unconsciously started registering for trains and hotels under the alias sysiphus i figured it was sign. a lifetime of stories though- you know how it is.
i guess i’m just trying to say goodbye, because i never did. or, perhaps, hello….
-b
Sounds like more than bodies were burning at ghat.
it’s good to be alive though.
something i need to remind myself of more
seeing dead people prolly helps alot in that regard.
i blurbed about you on my blog
http://jacquesdebeaufort.blogspot.com/2008/04/sandy-does-subcontinent.html
Stumbled upon you on the Boots n All sight. I’m hoping to do my own solo travels through India. Your writing is absolutely captivating and I’ve really enjoyed your insights.