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  • Ritual waters from the Ganges River are poured onto the face of the body of Savitridevi Mishra, who lived near the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat. Wrapped in a shroud of yellow and gold and decorated with marigold garlands, the woman will be burned upon a funeral pyre at the cremation grounds in a rite officiated by the eldest living male in her family.
    IND_040417_349_x.jpg
  • Gopal Jee Singh, 65, from Bihar, holds a butter lamp above his dead wife Subhadra Singh, 60 for a local photographer who takes photographs at the burning ghats and sells prints to families that want a keepsake. Subhadra died last night at 8 p.m. and he and his sons brought her here to Varanasi for the funeral rite, arriving at 3 a.m..Mr. Singh says that his wife didn't want to be cremated and so he and their sons brought her here to the Ganges for a different funeral ritual then most others have.
    IND_040412_748_x.jpg
  • Gopal Jee Singh, 65, from Bihar, holds a butter lamp above his dead wife Subhadra Singh, 60 for a local photographer who takes photographs at the burning ghats and sells prints to families that want a keepsake. Subhadra died last night at 8 p.m. and he and his sons brought her here to Varanasi for the funeral rite, arriving at 3 a.m.
    IND_040412_304_x.jpg
  • Brilliant spectacles of light from handheld towers of candles, held by priests and other Hindis during religious rites (pujas). Colorful and popular Dasasvamedha Ghat gets a lot of attention from religious pilgrims, locals, and tourists alike and is one of the busiest bathing ghats in the city of Varanasi.
    IND_040411_707_x.jpg
  • "Costaleros" carrying an ornate float through the streets of Salamanca during Semana Santa (Holy Week) in the rain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070407_564_rwx.jpg
  • Ascetic Hindu Priest--called a Sadhu, cloaks himself in a funeral shroud used to adorn bodies before they are cremated (left behind by mourners) at the main burning ghat in Varanasi.
    IND_040416_447_x.jpg
  • "Costaleros" carrying an ornate float through the streets of Salamanca during Semana Santa (Holy Week) in the rain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070407_545_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_763_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_255_rwx.jpg
  • Durga Tiwari, 35, attends to her dead mother, Savitridevi Mishra, just before she is taken to the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat.
    IND_040416_549_x.jpg
  • Durga Tiwari, 35, is comforted by a family member as her mother, Savitridevi Mishra, is taken to the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat.
    IND_040416_533_x.jpg
  • This is the last letter written by a young Nepalese boy studying sanskrit at an ashram in Varanasi who was swimming with friends in the Ganges River and drowned.
    IND_040415_310_x.jpg
  • Death is part of the fabric of life for Hindus and like much of Indian society, takes place in open view. In the early morning men and women wash clothes in the river, slapping dhoti, saris, and other pieces of clothing against rocks and cement slabs as others tend to the bodies burning on the shore at Harishchandra Ghat.
    IND_040413_308_x.jpg
  • A lone goat at the Harishchandra Ghat eats marigold garlands that once adorned the bodies dipped into the Ganges River for final ritual baths before cremation in Varansi, India. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040412_999_x.jpg
  • A young girl picks her way along the shoreline as a body burns at the Harishchandra cremation grounds. Just up river a man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040412_411_x.jpg
  • The main mourner, usually the eldest son or closest male family member, prepares for cremation rituals by getting his head and face shaved. There are a prescribed set of rituals for the entire process that started at the family's home with the washing of the body and wrapping for the travel to the burning ghats. The main mourner's hair and facial hair is shorn, (cost 15 rupees, by one of the many barbers near the ghats) and his nails are cut.
    IND_040412_328_x.jpg
  • The main mourner, usually the eldest son or closest male family member, prepares for cremation rituals by getting his head and face shaved. There are a prescribed set of rituals for the entire process that started at the family's home with the washing of the body and wrapping for the travel to the burning ghats. The main mourner's hair and facial hair is shorn, (cost 15 rupees, by one of the many barbers near the ghats) and his nails are cut. Family members at home also are shaved and cut.
    IND_040410_135_x.jpg
  • A young girl in a rowboad sells floating votive candles to mourners and tourists near the Dashashwamedh Ghat, on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. The most visited ghat of Varanasi by religious pilgrims, Dashashwamedh ghat is the most beautiful ghat in the city. The ghat is close to the famous 'Vishwanath Temple' and is therefore of high religious importance. The most enticing part is the evening 'Puja' performed by the group of priests. Also known as the 'Fire Puja', the ceremony is a dedication to River Ganges, Sun, Lord Shiva, Fire and the whole universe. The Ghats finds mention in the old religious texts, as it is said that lord Brahma created the ghats to welcome lord Shiva.
    IND_040414_281_xw.jpg
  • IND_040417_239_x<br />
Peter Menzel photographing at Manikarnika Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi India. The Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one’s body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore—a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death. Not every Hindu can be cremated here, because of transportation costs and logistical considerations. Sometimes a body is burned in one location and the ashes brought to Varanasi. There are other rivers in India, such as the Shipra which flows through the sacred city of Ujjain, that are considered sacred as well, but none holds the importance of the Ganges. Sometimes a small dummy representing the person will be burned at Jalasi.<br />
Only male family members are present and tend to the bodies at the cremation site as no show of emotion is allowed and also, they don’t want any of them jumping onto the fire, says one manager at the ghat. The body is carried to the water’s edge for a last dip, and then the main mourner prepares for his role in the ritual burning.<br />
The main mourner—usually the eldest son or closest male family member’s hair and facial hair is shorn, and his nails are cut. He wears a simple dhoti (traditional Indian male’s wraparound clothing). The chief mourner follows a prescribed ritual, which involves circling the body and showering it with ghee (clarified butter) and incense—like sandalwood—again often purchased from one of the local funereal accessories vendors. It takes about three hours for an average sized body to burn completely. If a family is poor and doesn’t have enough money to buy the right amount of wood to burn the body, then wood left over from other fires might be used. It takes about 350 kilos of wood to burn a body completely.<br />
Afterward, the workers dump ashes from the burned pyres and douse
    IND_040417_239_x.jpg
  • "Costaleros" carrying an ornate float through the streets of Salamanca during Semana Santa (Holy Week) in the rain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070407_550_rwx.jpg
  • Unmasked "Nazareños" in a Salamanca, Spain, church getting ready for the procession which has been delayed by rain during Semana Santa (Holy Week). Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070407_443_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers
    SPA_070407_371_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070407_347_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_751_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_715_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_289_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_288_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_164_rwx.jpg
  • A hooded penitent in a procession during Holy week in Salamanca, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_119_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week), Salamanca, Spain.  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_026_rwx.jpg
  • A hooded penitent in a procession during Holy week in Madrid, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070405_315_rwx.jpg
  • A young hooded penitent in a procession during Holy week in Salamanca, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070405_129_rwx.jpg
  • Hooded penitents in a procession during Holy week in Madrid, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070405_071_rwx.jpg
  • A hooded penitent in a procession during Holy week in Madrid, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070405_070_rwx.jpg
  • Bride and groom leaving the wedding chapel at an expensive hotel in Osaka, Japan.
    Japan_JAP_030928_01_x.jpg
  • Peter Menzel photographing at Manikarnika Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi India. The Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat.
    IND_040417_245_x.jpg
  • An exhausted mourner sits above the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat and lets ashes rain down on him. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore, a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death.
    IND_040417_173_x.jpg
  • A relative splashes Ganges River water onto the face of Savitridevi Mishra at the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat.
    IND_040416_523_x.jpg
  • Durga Tiwari, 35, is comforted by a family member as her mother, Savitridevi Mishra, is taken to the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat. This after the body has been washed, draped in a red and yellow shroud and marigold garlands and photographed for a family remembrance.
    IND_040416_515_x.jpg
  • A woman named Savitridevi Mishra died at 4 o'clock this morning and lies on the paving stones in the center of a square ringed by apartments near Manikarnika Ghat and the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat. A local photographer has come to take a commemorative photograph (at left).
    IND_040416_510_x.jpg
  • A young Nepalese boy studying sanskrit at an ashram in Varanasi was swimming with friends in the Ganges River and drowned.
    IND_040415_426_x.jpg
  • A young Nepalese boy studying sanskrit at an ashram in Varanasi was swimming with friends in the Ganges River and drowned.
    IND_040415_340_x.jpg
  • A decomposing cow floats in the Ganges River across from the cremation ghats in Varanasi, India. Human remains also wash up on the sandy shore on this side of the Ganges. Varanasi, India.
    IND_040415_182_x.jpg
  • Across the Ganges River from the cremation ghats in Varanasi, India, human remains wash up on the sandy shore. A human skull.
    IND_040415_152_x.jpg
  • These bells adorn the top of a shrine overlooking the Ganges river at the Harishchandra Ghat, Varanasi, India. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040415_138_x.jpg
  • A man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre at the Harishchandra cremation grounds. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040415_078_x.jpg
  • A man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre at the Harishchandra cremation grounds. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040415_058_x.jpg
  • A young girl in a rowboad sells floating votive candles to mourners and also tourists near the Dashashwamedh Ghat, on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India.
    IND_040414_282_x.jpg
  • A young girl in a rowboad sells floating votive candles to mourners and also tourists near the Dashashwamedh Ghat, on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India.
    IND_040414_281_x.jpg
  • A young girl in a rowboad sells floating votive candles to mourners and also tourists near the Dashashwamedh Ghat, on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India.
    IND_040414_280_x.jpg
  • A young Nepalese boy studying sanskrit at an ashram in Varanasi was swimming with friends in the Ganges River and drowned. Here his friend (to the right of the man with the beard) who was swimming with him tells the authorities how he drowned right after the boy disappeared beneath the murky waters of the Ganges. His teacher called his parents in Kathmandu but did not tell the reason why. When his father, Bhim Prasad Bastola, arrived in Varanasi on a bus, he was told of the death of his 15-year-old son Chudamani Bastola and the cremation ceremony was held shortly thereafter.
    IND_040413_313_x.jpg
  • Madru Choudhary, is the chief custodian of the Harishchandra ghat in Varanasi, India. He was 45 at the time the photo was taken and his family has been "in the business" for generations. Harishchandra is the smaller of the two ghats used for the cremation of thousands of Hindus each year. They are of the Dom caste which historically has included traders, weavers, scavengers, and musicians.  (His first name can also be spelled Matru. His last name is also spelled Chaudary, or Chaudhery).Varanasi, India.
    IND_040413_303_x.jpg
  • Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat, Varanasi, India. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore?a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death. Not every Hindu can be cremated here, because of transportation costs and logistical considerations. Sometimes a body is burned in one location and the ashes brought to Varanasi.
    IND_040413_293_x.jpg
  • Death is part of the fabric of life for Hindus and like much of Indian society, takes place in open view. In the early morning men and women wash clothes in the river, slapping dhoti, saris, and other pieces of clothing against rocks and cement slabs as others tend to the bodies burning on the shore at Harishchandra Ghat. A man uses a long bamboo pole that once was part of the litter fashioned to carry a body to the cremation grounds at Harishchandra Ghat to flip the unburned legs and arms back into the fire. He uses the pole to smash the skulls open as well so that it burns more easily. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040413_007_x.jpg
  • Male family members perform the rituals of Hindu cremation at the Harishchandra Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. Other fires burn bodies that have already had their cremation ritual. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River. An electric crematorium opened at the site in 1986 but had technical problems and never caught on. The method of cremation by wood fire is steeped in tradition and still favored.
    IND_040412_757_x.jpg
  • Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore, a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death. Not every Hindu can be cremated here, because of transportation costs and logistical considerations.
    IND_040412_721_x.jpg
  • The eldest son, Brajesh Kumar Singh, accompanies the body of his mother, Subhadra Singh, 60, to the center of the Ganges River for a water burial as her husband Gopal Jee Singh, 65, stands on the shore at Jalasi ghat and watches. The body is weighed down with a rock and will be released into the water, as was Subhadra's wish, rather than being cremated.
    IND_040412_708_x.jpg
  • A rowboat passes, distorted by the heat waves rising from a body burning at the Harishchandra cremation grounds on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. Just up river a man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040412_369_x.jpg
  • A rowboat passes, distorted by the heat waves rising from a body burning at the Harishchandra cremation grounds on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. Just up river a man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040412_361_x.jpg
  • Along the shoreline a body burns at the Harishchandra cremation grounds on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. Just up river a man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040412_359_x.jpg
  • Male family members perform the rituals of Hindu cremation at the Harishchandra Ghat. Other fires burn bodies that have already had their cremation ritual.
    IND_040412_336_x.jpg
  • Faith D'Aluisio and Neha Diddee wait for an official at the Varanasi, India, police station to give them the official document permitting photography of cremation on the city's burning ghats on the Ganges River. Normally it is forbidden to photograph cremation ceremonies at The Mother Ganges, as the Hindis who consider its waters sacred call it. Varanasi, India.
    IND_040410_production001_x.jpg
  • Boats on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India, with the Dasasvamedha Ghat in the background. Colorful and popular Dasasvamedha Ghat gets a lot of attention from religious pilgrims, locals, and tourists alike and is one of the busiest bathing ghats in the city of Varanasi.
    IND_040410_196_x.jpg
  • In the narrow streets leading down to the Manikarnika Ghat, in Varanasi, India, many elderly people lounge about, whiling away their time.
    IND_040410_150_x.jpg
  • Firewood for cremation. A worker carries a piece of wood from one of the wood laden boats moored at the shore up to the stockpile area. The wood is chopped into smaller pieces and, when paid for by a family, is used to build funeral pyres at Jalasi Ghat (at Manikarnika Ghat) in Varanasi, India.
    IND_040410_097_x.jpg
  • The colorful and popular Dasasvamedha Ghat  in the city of Varanasi, India, gets a lot of attention from religious pilgrims, locals, and tourists alike and is one of the busiest bathing ghats in Varanasi. A ghat is a stairway in India leading down to a landing on the water.
    IND_040416_472_xw.jpg
  • A human skull on the sandy banks of the Ganges River. across from the cremation ghats in Varanasi.
    IND_040415_152_xw.jpg
  • Bells adorn the top of a shrine overlooking the Ganges river at the Harishchandra Ghat in Varanasi, India. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River. An electric crematorium opened at the site in 1986 but had technical problems and never caught on. The method of cremation by wood fire is steeped in tradition and still favored. Cremation practices here at Harishchandra are the same as those at the larger Jalasi Ghat, at Manikarnika Ghat. It is sometimes called Adi Manikarnika ("the original cremation ground"). Varanasi, India. A ghat is a stairway in India leading down to a landing on the water.
    IND_040415_138_xw.jpg
  • A young girl in a rowboad sells floating votive candles to mourners and tourists near the Dashashwamedh Ghat, on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. The most visited ghat of Varanasi by religious pilgrims, Dashashwamedh ghat is the most beautiful ghat in the city. The ghat is close to the famous 'Vishwanath Temple' and is therefore of high religious importance. The most enticing part is the evening 'Puja' performed by the group of priests. Also known as the 'Fire Puja', the ceremony is a dedication to River Ganges, Sun, Lord Shiva, Fire and the whole universe. The Ghats finds mention in the old religious texts, as it is said that lord Brahma created the ghats to welcome lord Shiva.
    IND_040414_282_xw.jpg
  • "Costaleros" carrying an ornate float through the streets of Salamanca during Semana Santa (Holy Week) in the rain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070407_536_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_360_rwx.jpg
  • Young altar boys accompanying hooded penitents in a procession during Holy week in Salamanca, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_067_rwx.jpg
  • A hooded penitent in a procession during Holy week in Madrid, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070405_353_rwx.jpg
  • Durga Tiwari, 35, is comforted by a family member as her mother, Savitridevi Mishra, is taken to the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat. This after the body has been washed, draped in a red and yellow shroud and marigold garlands and photographed for a family remembrance.
    IND_040417_329_x.jpg
  • Peter Menzel photographing at Manikarnika Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi India. The Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat.
    IND_040417_239_x.jpg
  • Mourners comfort each other at the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore, a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death.
    IND_040417_224_x.jpg
  • The clay Kumbha (water pot) has a special significance in the Hindu cremation ritual. It is blessed in the early stages of the ritual and then, most often during the series of rituals designed to ensure the proper path in death for a loved one, the Kumbha is carried by a mourner three times around the burning body then dropped (and it breaks).
    IND_040417_213_x.jpg
  • Dashashwamedh Ghat is the most visited ghat of Varanasi by religious pilgrims, Dashashwamedh ghat is the most beautiful ghat in city. The ghat is close to the famous 'Vishwanath Temple' and is therefore of high religious importance. The most enticing part is the evening 'Puja' performed by the group of priests. Also called as 'Fire Puja', the ceremony is a dedication to River Ganges, Sun, Lord Shiva, Fire and the whole universe. The Ghats finds mention in the old religious texts, as it is said that lord Brahma created the ghats to welcome lord Shiva.  Early morning.  Varanasi, India..
    IND_040416_472_x.jpg
  • A potbellied man floats during an early morning swim in the river Ganga. Near the Dashashwamedh ghat. Colorful and popular Dasasvamedha Ghat gets a lot of attention from religious pilgrims, locals, and tourists alike and is one of the busiest bathing ghats in the city of Varanasi.
    IND_040416_462_x.jpg
  • Women wash and perform rituals at the Dashashwamedh Ghat, Varansi, India. Varanasi, India.
    IND_040416_327_x.jpg
  • Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat, Varanasi, India. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore, a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death.
    IND_040413_292_x.jpg
  • People sleep near the piles of wood for cremation fires on the banks of the Ganges River near the Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) which is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi.
    IND_040413_259_x.jpg
  • Male family members carry a body to the edge of the Ganges River for a final ritual dip before cremation at the Harishchandra Ghat in Varansi, India. Other fires burn bodies that have already had their cremation ritual.
    IND_040412_728_x.jpg
  • Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore, a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death.
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  • A passing cow eats discarded marigold garlands along the shoreline as a body burns at the Harishchandra cremation grounds. Just up river a man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
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  • The "eternal fire" at the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat. All funeral pyres are lighted from embers from this fire which burns above the ghat. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore,  place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death.
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  • An elderly man lives on the street near the Manikarnika Ghat, in Varanasi, India.
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  • A body wrapped in bright orange funeral cloth purchased from one of the many funeral vendors that line the narrow streets above Manikarnika Ghat is carried to the edge of the Ganges River for cremation as another body is being readied for burning. Surrounded by boats loaded with wood used for burning the bodies, workers stack the wood that a family has purchased from the ghat's managers for the cremation ritual.
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  • Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat in the city of Varanasi, India. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore?a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death. Not every Hindu can be cremated here, because of transportation costs and logistical considerations. Sometimes a body is burned in one location and the ashes brought to Varanasi. A ghat is a stairway in India leading down to a landing on the water.
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  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
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  • Hooded penitents in a procession during Holy week in Madrid, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
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  • The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
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  • A worker carries a piece of wood from one of the wood laden boats moored at the banks of the Ganges River. The wood is chopped into smaller pieces and, when paid for by a family, is used to build funeral pyres at Jalasi Ghat (at Manikarnika Ghat) in Varanasi, India.
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  • Madru, who is nicknamed Dru is a Brahmin priest who spends most of his time hanging out at the Varanasi burning ghats explaining the ritual aspects of the cremation site to tourists and journalists alike. Sometimes he is given cash presents in exchange for the information. When he or another Brahmin priest assists at a cremation, he works as a guide as well for the chief mourner, who must follow a prescribed ritual to ensure the proper send off for the loved one. Brahmins are given gifts by the mourning family throughout the ritual process, which begins at home when a Hindu dies and continues for many months and then yearly. 
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  • An elderly widow living out her last days near the Manikarnika Ghat, in Varansi, India..Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore?a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death. Not every Hindu can be cremated here, because of transportation costs and logistical considerations.
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  • A young boy takes a communion wafer during Sunday morning services at Regina Mundi Catholic Church service in Soweto, South Africa.
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  • The disfigured hand of a Dani woman. In Dani culture, the fingers of women are severed from the first knuckle at an early age as a tribute to family members who have died. Amuloke: "My older sister died and my mother cut them (my fingers) off when I was five years old with a sharp stone axe, all of them at once. Now I feel a bit angry with my mother because she cut them. When I see the other fingers complete, I feel bad about it. The cut fingers aren't good for holding. They don't work very well." Soroba, Baliem Valley, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. (Man Eating Bugs page 82)
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  • Evening tourist show on the Ganges, Varanasi, India. Brilliant spectacles of light from handheld towers of candles, held by priests and other Hindis during religious rites (pujas). Colorful and popular Dasasvamedha Ghat gets a lot of attention from religious pilgrims, locals, and tourists alike and is one of the busiest bathing ghats in the city of Varanasi. There is a nightly ceremony of lights performed mostly for tourists.
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Peter Menzel Photography

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