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Varanasi by Philip Gostelow
VARANASI - Living Dead City (Shiva’s City)
The city of Shiva on the banks of the sacred Ganges river is one of the holiest places in India. Hindu pilgrims come to bathe in the waters of the Ganges, a ritual which washes away all sins. The city is an auspicious place to die, since expiring here ensures release from the cycle of rebirths and an instant passport to heaven. The ghats (steps which lead down to the rivers edge) that line the banks of the Ganges are a focus of activity, where the most intimate rituals of life and death take place in public: funeral pyres, weddings, religious rituals such as offerings made to the holy Ganges.
