For Hindus Varanasi is one of the holiest cities in the world. «Houses of salvation» have been established throughout the city for those who come to live and die here.
Varanasi, through which the sacred river Ganges flows, is considered the place where the cycle of reincarnation breaks and the soul is set free. Also known as Benares, it is a city of two million residents, built on the western bank of the river Ganges, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in history.
Those of faith seeking the so-called moksha, that is, liberation, have been visiting the city ofIndiafor centuries with the sole purpose of spending their final hours there.
An otherworldly spectacle
For an uninitiated observer, what prevails in the city can seem gruesome and otherworldly. Before the grey waters of the Ganges, the cremators work day and night. The rituals take place on two main banks - gathering points, Manikarnika and Harishchandra. A large array of steps leads to the riverbanks, polluted with urban and industrial waste.
Alongside devotees purifying themselves by drinking the dangerous waters, and tourists trying to remain composed in the face of macabre scenes and the stench, crowds of family members and priests shuttle corpses on carts and wooden platforms, as if it were something ordinary. The bodies are wrapped in elaborate orange shrouds. Their destination is the «fires of Shiva», the funeral pyres that will consume the deceased and, according to their faith, allow the soul to enter a new plane of existence, leaving the earthly behind.
Hotels for the dying
In the sacred city, special accommodations have been built, known as «houses of salvation». The oldest of all is Mumukshu Bhawan, which has 116 rooms. 40 of them have been allocated to individuals who have moved permanently to the area, awaiting their death.
According to the BBC, those who desire cremation pay a one-time fee to the hotel, in the amount of 100.000 rupees, so that they can stay until the fateful day.
Other places do not offer such luxuries. A type of «motel» in the area is called in Hindi «Mukti Bhawan», meaning «House of Salvation». In these inns that trade in repentance, comforts are few. The rooms have only the bare essentials, while patrons pay a small fee just enough to cover the buildings electricity costs. As the caretaker in one of the premises remarks, "what do you need luxuries like air conditioning for?" in the face of eternal salvation;
Source: Reader.gr
