MANIKARNIKA – THE CREMATION GHAT

Manikarnika Ghat, Varanasi

“People come from all over the world to die here”….sounds ominous, doesn’t it? But not really, if one is talking about Manikarnika Ghat in Kashi. Believe it or not, it is quite a matter of pride; and death is big business here!

The story goes that *the great Shiva and Parvati, lived in marital perfection in the “Forest of Bliss” or Anandvan, as this area was called in the the ancient texts – lush with forests, gardens, groves of trees, the birds and the bees, the landscape laced with rivers, and of course, the silver, slender kasha grass (from which, perhaps, Kashi later got her name). They desired one day, as Gods are wont to do, to create another Being who would take on the burden of creating the universe and all that exists, so that they were free to handle the liberation of the deceased souls. This Being was the omniscient Vishnu – whose breath was the Vedas, according to which He was to Create.

He created a kund with his discus, and filled it with the sweat of 50,000 years worth of intense austerities. Shiva, enthralled at this sight, trembled with pleasure; in doing so his earring (manikarnika) fell into the kund, giving this ghat its name. Since the earring was studded with a pearl – mukta – this sacred spot (tirth sthaan) would gift liberation – mukti – to the deceased here.*

To me, Manikarnika Ghat stands for a lot more than just liberation from the karmic cycles. It amazes me, watching of all this from the viewpoint of an interested bystander.

There is the mystical aspect to these ghats with all the legends, the Shiva stories of destruction and creation, of Gods of life and death, immortal love and eternal fires and what-not, that a person of a romantic bent of mind – such as me –  finds so exciting, addictive even! Its history, they insist, is in actual fact, god-promise-swear of the amar-chitra-katha variety! Lord Shiva really did light the fire here 3,500 years ago, and it burns still, under the watchful eye of the Dom Family. It is used to light the pyre of the dead, and its ash is the take-away prasad from this sacred ghat.

View of the Ganga from inside the structure at Manikarnika Ghat, Varanasi

Then there is the people standing next to the burning pyres of their loved ones, heads bent, eyes watering, hands folded in prayer and respect, that takes your breath away. It reminds you of your own loved ones; how fleeting and fragile our lives and loves are! All gone in an instant; this same pyre will burn away another body to smoke and ash the next day, another life-story come to an end. The entire process can even be watched from the “vantage-point” of a boat floating along the river, much like watching a movie. However, in a strange way this “distance” gives peace to the mind, reminding us that death is just a part of the mystery that is Life; death happens, and life goes on.

And finally, there is “the business of life and death” that stares you in the face, with the many boatmen selling rides so that “you can get a better view of the dead bodies” from the river. Or the tourist guide who tells you stories of the Shiv and Benaras, and asks you for a tip, because he took you round to those areas of the ghat that no-one is allowed into! Or maybe he doesn’t directly ask for a tip; instead ending his speech with,”kuch bhi de kar chale jao, hum sab khaali haath aaye hain, kya lekar jaana hai…“And the two of us, educated architects, handed him Rs.200 each!

With such mixed emotions one reaches the exit, only to see a snake charmer with a coir basket, and an excited firang trying to photograph them; and you float back to reality…. and land on a slightly muddy terra firma.

It is a funny place, this.

It draws you in with the legends and the imagery. It repels you with sights of half-burnt corpses; ashes thrown away into the squelching muddy Ganga waters. The tears and sadness that hangs so heavy in the air that you can feel it. It piques your interest such that you want to go over again and again to try and understand this place just a little bit more.

*ref : Death in Banaras by Jonathan P. Parry