• IN dark times Nations were best guided by religion, for in complete darkness a blind man is the best guide.
• At all times, scoundrels have tried to mask their vile actions with devotion to the interests of religion, morality and patriotism.

Where books are burned, people will eventually be burned.
Heinrich Heine
Heine said this phrase in 1821, regarding the burning of the Koran by the Spanish Inquisition. And before that, in 1497 in Florence, the monk Girolamo Savonarola organized a book-burning holiday called the “Bonfire of the Vanities.” So it's just like that European tradition sometimes light fires from books. :) But the Chinese started this tradition. Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huan in 221 BC organized a public ceremony of burning “harmful” books, the authors of which were then buried alive in the ground.

Where books are burned...

German President Horst Köhler, speaking at a meeting in Berlin in memory of the burning of tens of thousands of books by the Nazis, called for protecting freedom of speech and art throughout the world. Köhler said the book burning had become a symbol of ideological repression and the suppression of freedom of speech.
On May 10, 1933, students under the leadership of the Nazis burned more than 20 thousand books by 149 Jewish, socialist and pacifist authors whose works contradicted the ideas of National Socialism.
Volumes were also thrown into the fires German poet Heinrich Heine, who a century earlier wrote: “Where books are burned, people will be burned.”
In his speech, Koehler noted that this action was not a spontaneous and random action. At the same time, he pointed out the “shameful fact” how quickly the ideas of National Socialism spread in the university environment.

A monkey was killed on the way to the airport. The plane was delayed for 4 hours due to fog. A cyclist was hit on the way from the Airport. In the evening I watched the dead being burned at the stake. But for the rest, beautiful marquise, everything is fine, everything is fine...

This article is about the Holy River Ganges and what happens on its banks.

Due to a delayed flight to Varanasi, I arrived four hours late. I checked into a hotel and in the evening went to the Ganges River to watch the evening prayer of the Brahmins. I rode a rickshaw across the city:

More than 2 million people live in Varanasi. Even on a pedicab it is very difficult to squeeze through the narrow streets:

There is a cacophony of horns, bicycle bells and shouts all around. My cab driver was constantly bumping into someone, cutting someone off and talking to someone. It was here that the realization hit me: “There are so many people here!” I had absolutely no space of my own - I was hopelessly floundering in a huge human ocean. At the same time, everyone smiled at me and waved their hands welcomingly:

Varansi is located on the banks of the Ganges River and stretches for about 8 kilometers. Along the entire embankment, steps descend to the water - Ghats:

We arrived at the place where they were preparing for the most famous evening prayer of the Brahmins in India:

Before it started, we rented a boat and sailed to the place where the dead are burned on bonfires and their ashes are scattered over the Ganges. The guide said that the Ganges River used to flow in Paradise, but the great King Bagirat asked God Shiva to let it flow in our world. Shiva went to the meeting and now we have the Ganges River. If a deceased person is burned on the banks of the Ganges River and his ashes are thrown into the water, he will go straight to heaven. It must be burned with real wood from trees. Rich people use sandalwood. The human body burns out in about 2 hours. After this, a new one immediately appears in place of this fire. People are burned around the clock due to the large number of people willing and lack of space:

The next morning I saw the sunrise on the Ganges. Read these photos and the story below:

Filming is not allowed near this place. We swam close to the fires and moored to the boats with other tourists. Everyone watched as the dead were burned at the stake. There were several corpses lying on the stairs, ready for cremation and waiting their turn.

I expected the smell of burning human flesh to be stronger, but near this place it was not much different from the smells in the rest of the city.

About 200 meters upstream, evening prayer has already begun:

The spectators sat on the steps behind the Brahmins and in boats on the water:

The ritual lasted about 40 minutes:

At this time, nimble boys jumped from boat to boat and sold floating wreaths with candles to tourists. We need to let them sail along the Ganges and make a wish:

Life is in full swing on the stairs:

Pilgrims in yellow robes enjoying dinner:

At 6 am the next day we again arrived at the ghats to watch the sunrise on the water. Despite this early hour it was crowded here:

We bought wreaths that had to be launched into the Ganges at dawn:

Boats with tourists and onlookers floated along the shore:

And on the shore people swam, laughed, prayed, washed, brushed their teeth and burned the dead:

Group of pilgrims from the south:

Religious ritual. Brahmin smeared with human ashes:

People enjoy life. The guide said that laughter cures many diseases, such as stomach illness:

Some just sit and pray or talk:

Many people do their laundry on the Ganges. For this purpose, special bridges have been built along the entire river, along which the Indians hit the laundry:

Pay attention to this photo. On the right is a man washing clothes. To the left is a funeral pyre. A person is burned on it:

I did not post the next photo here. This is the funeral pyre from the previous photo. close-up. I I STRICTLY DO NOT RECOMMEND Children, pregnant women and impressionable people should watch this photo. If you still want to see it, then click here.

After that, we swam to the stairs where people are being burned. This is the main place in the city intended for this:

The question “how to cremate a person” has always worried people. And this is no coincidence: interest in death is inherent in our nature, and fire has fascinated people since ancient times. In this article we will explain in detail how human cremation occurs.

It is important to understand that cremation is only the first stage of burial. Depending on the will of the deceased/relatives, after cremation, the urn with ashes is placed in a niche of the columbarium, buried in a grave, or done in another way (for example, the ashes are scattered).

During cremation, as during burial in the ground, there is a process of transition of organic tissues into inorganic ones. chemical compounds, of which the soil is made. Cremation is essentially the same as burial, since the body goes into the ground. There is only one difference: mineralization of the body and its inclusion in the soil takes up to 20 years, and cremation of a person reduces this period to one and a half hours.

Residents of Russia increasingly prefer cremation to the usual method of burial. The share of cremation in Russia as a whole is low - 10%, but in big cities it is 30-40%, and in Moscow and St. Petersburg it is close to 70%. This happens for many reasons, the main ones being the lack of space in cemeteries, the simplicity of the process and low cost.

How people were cremated in the past. History of cremation.

The history of cremation goes back to extreme antiquity. People have long realized that ashes are safe for health, and many religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, have included cremation in their rituals. In India, Japan, Indonesia and many other countries, how people were cremated in the past - on a pyre under open air- they still do this today.

Along with the most ancient type of burial—deposition of corpses—cremation was already practiced in the Paleolithic, and in the Bronze Age and Iron Age, inhabitants of ancient civilizations began to cremate everywhere. Burning became the dominant burial rite in ancient Greece, from where the tradition passed into Ancient Rome, where they came up with the idea of ​​storing ashes in specially designated places - columbariums, where you can come and honor the memory of your ancestors.

Incinerators began to be used in Europe in the late 18th century due to the growth of cities and a shortage of cemeteries. Gradually, cremation began to spread in Europe, the USA and other countries.

How a person is cremated in a crematorium these days.

Human cremation takes place in crematoria - complex engineering structures designed for 100% combustion of the dead along with the coffin at ultra-high temperatures.

The crematorium complex consists of several industrial furnaces capable of generating temperatures of 900-1100°C, which ensures the complete disintegration of the body and its transformation into ashes. Cremation takes from one and a half to two hours, and after cremation of a person, ashes with a volume of 2-2.5 liters remain.

The coffin with the body is delivered to the crematorium and placed on a hearse in the hall for the farewell ceremony. At the end of the ritual, the coffin is transferred to a conveyor and moved to a transit room, from where, through certain time it goes into the cremation oven. Imagining how people are cremated in a crematorium, we, especially in at a young age, we think that the body goes into the fire immediately after the coffin disappears behind the curtains of the farewell hall. But this is not always the case: such technology is not provided in every crematorium.

After cremation, the ashes are placed in a metal capsule and sealed. Most often, the relatives of the deceased want to receive the ashes in an urn. Funeral urns come in a variety of designs and are chosen according to taste: purchased from a crematorium or funeral store and then given to the crematorium staff, who transfer the ashes from the capsule to the urn.

The relative responsible for receiving it takes the ballot box, after which the The final stage burials.

After cremation, the urn with ashes is stored in the crematorium until claimed by her relatives. Shelf life varies depending on different regions, but most often it is 1 year. If the ashes are not claimed, the urn will be buried in a common grave at the crematorium.

Human Cremation: How people are cremated.

The most common cremation oven has two chambers. In the first, the coffin with the body is burned in jets of hot air, and in the second, the afterburning chamber, 100% combustion of organic tissues and trapping of impurities takes place. An important element of crematorium equipment is the cremator, in which burnt remains are crushed into ashes, and metal objects are removed from them using a magnet.

Most often, stoves operate on gas, as it is economical and quickly sets the desired temperature in the chamber.

To prevent mixing of ashes after combustion, each body is registered, assigned an identifier, and a metal plate with a number is placed on the coffin. After cremation, a plate with a number is placed inside the remains, allowing the ashes to be identified.

What to do after cremation?

After cremation, when an urn with ashes is received, proceed in one of the following ways:

• Bury the urn in the grave. It could be like new site, purchased at auction, and a related grave;
• Place the urn in a niche in an open or closed columbarium;
• You can dispose of the ashes according to the will of the deceased, for example, scatter them. The legislation of the Russian Federation does not define special places for this, so the choice depends only on you.

The advantages of cremation compared to traditional burial in the ground:

• you can bury the urn at any time; there is no need to rush to a decision;
• there is no need to wait until the end of the sanitary period after the last burial in a related grave (15 years for Moscow).

November 26th, 2012

ATTENTION! There are shocking photos. Viewing is not recommended for the impressionable!

Our planet is full of wonderful surprises from nature and ancient civilizations, full of beauty and sights, and you can also find quite unusual, strange, dark traditions and rituals. Although it should be noted that for us they are strange and scary, but for some it is theirs everyday life, this is their culture.

Each of the billion Hindus dreams of dying in Varanasi or burning their body here. The open air crematorium smokes 365 days a year and 24 hours a day. Hundreds of bodies from all over India and abroad come here every day, fly in and burn. The Hindus came up with a good religion - that when we give up, we don’t die for good. Vladimir Vysotsky instilled in us this basic knowledge about Hinduism to the chords of his guitar. He sang and enlightened: “If you live correctly, you will be happy in your next life, and if you are stupid like a tree, you will be born a baobab.”

Varanasi is an important religious site in the world of Hinduism, a center of pilgrimage for Hindus from all over the world, as ancient as Babylon or Thebes. The contradictions are more pronounced here than anywhere else. human existence: life and death, hope and suffering, youth and old age, joy and despair, splendor and poverty. This is a city in which there is so much death and life at the same time. This is a city in which eternity and existence coexist. This the best place to understand what India is, its religion and culture.

In the religious geography of Hinduism, Varanasi is the center of the universe. One of the most sacred cities for Hindus serves as a kind of border between physical reality and the eternity of life. Here the gods descend to earth, and a mere mortal achieves bliss. It is a holy place to live and a blessed place to die. This is the best place to achieve bliss.

Varanasi's prominence in Hindu mythology is unparalleled. According to legend, the city was founded by the Hindu God Shiva several thousand years ago, making it one of the most important places pilgrimages in the country. It is one of the seven holy cities of the Hindus. In many ways, he embodies the best and worst aspects of India, sometimes leading foreign tourists in horror. However, the scenes of pilgrims saying prayers in the rays of the rising sun by the Ganges River, with Hindu temples in the background, is one of the most impressive sights in the world. Traveling around northern India, try not to bypass this ancient city.

Founded a thousand years before Christ, Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in the world. It was called many epithets - “city of temples”, “sacred city of India”, “religious capital of India”, “city of lights”, “city of enlightenment” - and only very recently it was restored official name, first mentioned in the Jataka - an ancient narrative of Hindu literature. But many still continue to use English name Benares, and pilgrims call it nothing more than Kashi - this is what the city has been called for three thousand years.

The Hindu truly believes in the wanderings of the soul, which after death moves into other living beings. And he treats death in a kind of special way, but at the same time, in an ordinary way. For a Hindu, death is just one of the stages of samsara, or endless game births and deaths. And an adherent of Hinduism also dreams of one day not being born. He strives for moksha - the completion of that very cycle of rebirth, along with which - for liberation and deliverance from the hardships of the material world. Moksha is practically synonymous with Buddhist nirvana: highest state, the goal of human aspirations, a certain absolute.

For thousands of years, Varanasi has been a center of philosophy and theosophy, medicine and education. English writer Mark Twain, shocked by his visit to Varanasi, wrote: "Benares (old name) older than history, older than tradition, even older than the legends and looks twice as old as all of them put together." Many famous and most revered Indian philosophers, poets, writers and musicians lived in Varanasi. The classic of Hindi literature Kabir lived in this glorious city, the singer and writer Tulsidas wrote an epic poem Ramacharithamanas, which has become one of the most famous works literature in Hindi, and Buddha delivered his first sermon at Sarnath, just a few kilometers from Varanasi. Sung by myths and legends, sanctified by religion, it has always attracted a large number of pilgrims and believers since time immemorial.

Varanasi is located between Delhi and Kolkata on west bank Ganga. Every Indian child who has listened to the stories of his parents knows that the Ganga is the largest and holiest of all the rivers in India. main reason visiting Varanasi is, of course, to see the Ganges River. The significance of the river for Hindus is beyond description. It is one of the 20 largest rivers in the world. The Ganges River basin is the most densely populated in the world, with a population of over 400 million people. The Ganga is an important source of irrigation and communication for millions of Indians living along the riverbed. Since time immemorial she has been worshiped as the goddess Ganga. Historically, a number of capitals of former principalities were located on its banks.

The largest ghat in the city used for cremation is Manikarnika. About 200 bodies a day are cremated here, and funeral pyres burn day and night. Families bring their dead here natural death.

Hinduism has given those who practice it a method of guaranteed attainment of moksha. It is enough to die in sacred Varanasi (formerly Benares, Kashi - author's note) - and samsara ends. Moksha is coming. It is important to note that being cunning and throwing yourself under a car in this city is not an option. So you definitely won’t see moksha. Even if an Indian did not die in Varanasi, this city is still capable of influencing his further existence. If you cremate the body on the banks of the sacred Ganges River in this city, then the karma for the next life is cleared. So Hindus from all over India and the world come here to die and burn.

The Ganges embankment is the most party place in Varanasi. Here are hermit sadhus smeared in soot: real ones - praying and meditating, tourist ones - pestering with offers to be photographed for money. Disdainful European women are trying not to step into sewage, fat American women are filming themselves in front of everything, frightened Japanese are walking around with gauze bandages on their faces - they are saving themselves from infections. It's full of Rastafarians with dreadlocks, freaks, enlightened and pseudo-enlightened people, schizos and beggars, massage therapists and hashish dealers, artists and other people of every stripe in the world. The diversity of the crowd is incomparable.

Despite the abundance of visitors, it’s difficult to call this city a tourist city. Varanasi still has its own life, and tourists have absolutely nothing to do with it. Here is a corpse floating along the Ganges, a man nearby is washing and beating clothes on a stone, someone is brushing his teeth. Almost everyone swims with happy faces. “The Ganges is our mother. You tourists don’t understand. You laugh that we drink this water. But for us it is sacred,” the Hindus explain. And indeed, they drink and don’t get sick. Native microflora. Although the Discovery Channel, when making a film about Varanasi, submitted samples of this water for research. The laboratory's verdict is terrible - one drop will, if not kill a horse, then certainly cripple it. There is more nastiness in that drop than on the list of potentially dangerous infections in the country. But you forget about all this when you find yourself on the shore of burning people.

This is Manikarnika Ghat - the main crematorium of the city. There are bodies, bodies and more bodies everywhere. There are dozens of them waiting for their turn at the fire. Burning smoke, crackling firewood, a chorus of worried voices and the phrase endlessly ringing in the air: “Ram nam sagage.” A hand stuck out of the fire, a leg appeared, and now a head rolled. The workers, sweating and squinting from the heat, use bamboo sticks to turn over body parts emerging from the fire. I felt like I was on the set of some kind of horror movie. Reality disappears from under your feet.

Business on corpses

From the balconies of the “trump” hotels you can see the Ganges, and with it the smoke of funeral pyres. I didn’t want to smell this strange smell all day long, so I moved to a less fashionable area, and away from the corpses. "Friend, good camera! Do you want to film how people are burned?" - rarely, but you hear offers from molesters. There is not a single law prohibiting filming funeral rites. But at the same time, there is not a single chance to take advantage of the absence of a ban. Selling pseudo-film permits is a business for the caste that controls cremation. Five to ten dollars for one click of the shutter, and a double is the same price.

It's impossible to cheat. I had to watch how tourists, out of ignorance, even just pointed the camera towards the fire and came under the most severe pressure of the crowd. These were no longer trades, but racketeering. There are special rates for journalists. The approach to everyone is individual, but for a permit to work “in the zone” - up to 2000 euros, and for one photo card - up to a hundred dollars. Street brokers always clarified my profession and only then started bidding. And who am I? Amateur photography student! Landscapes, flowers and butterflies. You say this - and the price is immediately divine, 200 bucks. But there is no guarantee that with a “filka certificate” they will not end up being sent to hell. I continue my search and soon find the main one. “B-i-i-g boss,” they call him on the embankment.

Name is Sures. With a big belly and a leather vest, he proudly walks between the fires - supervising the staff, the sale of wood, and the collection of proceeds. I also introduce myself to him as a novice amateur photographer. “Okay, you have 200 dollars, and rent for a week,” Sures was delighted, asked for 100 dollars in advance and showed a sample of the “permishin” - an A4 piece of paper with the inscription a la “I allow it. Boss.” I didn’t want to buy a piece of paper for two hundred greenbacks again. “To Varanasi City Hall,” I said to the tuk-tuk driver. The complex of two-story houses was very reminiscent of a Soviet-era sanatorium. People are fussing with papers and standing in lines.

And small officials of the city administration, like ours, are sluggish - they spend a long time fiddling with each leaf. I killed half a day, collected a collection of autographs from the big shots of Varanasi and went to the police headquarters. Law enforcement officers offered to wait for the boss and treated him to tea. Made from clay pots, as if from a Ukrainian souvenir shop. After drinking tea, the policeman smashes the ice cream on the floor. It turns out that plastic is expensive and not environmentally friendly. But there is a lot of clay in the Ganges and it is free. At a street eatery, such a glass along with tea even cost me 5 rupees. For an Indian it’s even cheaper. A few hours later, an audience was held with the city police chief. I decided to make the most of the meeting and asked him for a business card. "I only have it in Hindi!" - the man laughed. “I offer an exchange. You tell me in Hindi, I tell you in Ukrainian,” I come up with. Now I have in my hands a whole stack of permits and a trump card - the business card of the main man in uniform in Varanasi.

Last refuge

Visitors stare in fear at the fires from afar. Well-wishers approach them and supposedly unselfishly initiate them into the history of Indian funeral traditions. "It takes 400 kilograms of firewood to make a fire. One kilogram costs 400-500 rupees (1 US dollar - 50 Indian rupees - author's note). Help the family of the deceased, donate money for at least a couple of kilograms. People spend their entire lives collecting money for the last "bonfire" - the excursion ends as standard. It sounds convincing, foreigners take out their wallets. And, without suspecting it, they pay for half the fire. After all, the real price of wood is from 4 rupees per kilo. In the evening I come to Manikarnika. Literally a minute later a man comes running and demands to explain how I dare to expose my lens in a sacred place.

When he sees the documents, he respectfully folds his hands to his chest, bows his head and says: “Welcome! You are our friend. Ask for help.” This is 43 year old Kashi Baba from upper caste Brahmins. He has been overseeing the cremation process here for 17 years. He says work gives him crazy energy. Hindus really love this place - in the evenings men sit on the steps and stare at the fires for hours. “We all dream of dying in Varanasi and having our bodies cremated here,” they say something like this. Kashi Baba and I also sit down next to each other. It turns out that bodies began to be burned in this very place 3,500 years ago. Since the fire of the god Shiva was not lit here. It burns even now, it is monitored around the clock, every ritual fire is set on fire from it. Today, between 200 and 400 bodies are reduced to ashes here every day. And not only from all over India. Burn in Varanasi - last will many immigrant Hindus and even some foreigners. Recently, for example, an elderly American was cremated.

Contrary to tourist fables, cremation is not very expensive. To burn a body, it will take 300-400 kilograms of wood and up to four hours of time. A kilogram of firewood - from 4 rupees. The entire funeral ceremony can start from 3-4 thousand rupees, or 60-80 dollars. But there is no maximum bar. Richer people add sandalwood to the fire for scent, a kilogram of which reaches up to $160. When the Maharaja died in Varanasi, his son ordered a fire made entirely of sandalwood, and scattered emeralds and rubies around. All of them rightfully went to the workers of Manikarnika - people from the dom-raja caste.

These are the lower class of people, the so-called untouchables. Their fate is unclean types of work, which includes burning corpses. Unlike other untouchables, the Dom-Raja caste has money, as even the element “raja” in the name hints at.

Every day these people clean the area, sift and wash through a sieve ash, coals and burnt soil. The task is to find the jewelry. Relatives do not have the right to remove them from the deceased. On the contrary, they inform the guys at the Raja's house that the deceased, say, gold chain, diamond ring and three gold teeth. The workers will find and sell all this. At night there is a glow from fires over the Ganges. The best way to view it is from the roof of the central building, Manikarnika Ghat. “If you fall, you’ll fall straight into the fire. It’s convenient,” Kashi argues, while I stand on the canopy and take a panorama. Inside this building there is emptiness, darkness and walls smoked for decades.

I'll be honest - it's creepy. A wizened granny sits right on the floor, in the corner on the second floor. This is Daya Mai. She doesn’t remember her exact age - she says about 103 years old. Daya spent the last 45 of them in this very corner, in a building near the cremation bank. Waiting for death. He wants to die in Varanasi. This woman from Bihar first came here when her husband died. And soon she lost her son and also decided to die. I was in Varanasi for ten days, almost every day of which I met Daya Mai. Leaning on a stick, in the morning she would go out into the street, walk between the stacks of firewood, approach the Ganges and return to her corner again. And so for the 46th year in a row.

To burn or not to burn? Manikarnika is not the only cremation place in the city. Here they burn those who die a natural death. And a kilometer earlier, on Hari Chandra Ghat, the dead, suicides, and accident victims are being set on fire. Nearby is an electric crematorium where beggars who have not raised money for firewood are burned. Although usually in Varanasi even the poorest have no problems with funerals. Wood that did not burn out in previous fires is given free of charge to families who do not have enough firewood. In Varanasi, you can always raise money among locals and tourists. After all, helping the family of the deceased is good for karma. But in poor villages there are problems with cremation. There is no one to help. And a body symbolically burned and thrown into the Ganges is not uncommon.

In places where sacred river dams are formed, there is even a profession - collecting corpses. The men sail the boat and collect the bodies, even diving into the water if necessary. Nearby, a body tied to a large stone slab is being loaded into a boat. It turns out that not all bodies can be burned. It is forbidden to cremate sadhus, because they abandoned work, family, sex and civilization, devoting their lives to meditation. Children under 13 are not burned, because it is believed that their bodies are like flowers. Accordingly, it is forbidden to set fire to pregnant women, because there are children inside. It is not possible to cremate a person with leprosy. All these categories of deceased are tied to a stone and drowned in the Ganges.

It is forbidden to cremate those killed by a cobra bite, which is not uncommon in India. It is believed that after the bite of this snake, not death occurs, but coma. Therefore, a boat is made from a banana tree, where the body wrapped in film is placed. A sign with your name and home address is attached to it. And they set sail on the Ganges. Sadhus meditating on the shore try to catch such bodies and try to bring them back to life through meditation.

They say successful outcomes are not uncommon. “Four years ago, 300 meters from Manikarnika, a hermit caught and revived the body. The family was so happy that they wanted to make the sadhu rich. But he refused, because if he took even one rupee, he would lose all his power,” Kashi Baba told me. Animals are not yet burned, because they are symbols of the gods. But what shocked me most of all was the terrible custom that existed until relatively recently - sati. Widow burning. When a husband dies, the wife must burn in the same fire. This is not a myth or a legend. According to Kashi Baba, this phenomenon was common some 90 years ago.

According to textbooks, widow burning was banned in 1929. But episodes of sati still happen today. Women cry a lot, so they are forbidden to be near the fire. But literally at the beginning of 2009, an exception was made for a widow from Agra. She wanted last time to say goodbye to her husband and asked to come to the fire. I jumped there, and when the fire was already burning with might and main. They rescued the woman, but she was badly burned and died before the doctors arrived. She was cremated in the same pyre as her betrothed.

back side Ganga

On the other bank of the Ganges from the bustling Varanasi there are deserted expanses. Tourists are not recommended to appear there, because sometimes the village shantrap shows aggression. On opposite side The Ganga is washed by villagers, and pilgrims are brought there to bathe. Among the sands, a lonely hut made of branches and straw catches your eye. There lives a hermit sadhu with the divine name Ganesh. A man in his 50s moved here from the jungle 16 months ago to perform the puja ritual - burning food in a fire. Like a sacrifice to the gods. He likes to say, with or without reason: “I don’t need money - I need my puja.” In a year and four months, he burned 1,100,000 coconuts and an impressive amount of oil, fruit and other products.

He conducts meditation courses in his hut, which is how he earns money for his puja. For a man from a hut who drinks water from the Ganges, he speaks great English, is well acquainted with the products of the National Geographic Channel and invites me to write down his mobile number. Ganesh used to have normal life, he still occasionally calls back with his adult daughter and ex-wife: “One day I realized that I no longer wanted to live in the city, and I didn’t need a family. Now I’m in the jungle, in the forest, in the mountains or on the river bank.

I don’t need money - I need my puja." Contrary to the recommendations for visitors, I often swam to the other side of the Ganges to take a break from the endless noise and annoying crowds. Ganesh recognized me from afar, waved his hand and shouted: “Dima!” But even here , on the deserted bank of the other side of the Ganges, you can suddenly shudder, for example, seeing dogs tearing apart human body washed ashore by waves. See, shudder and remember - this is Varanasi, the “city of death”.

Chronology of the process

If a person died in Varanasi, he is burned 5-7 hours after death. The reason for the rush is the heat. The body is washed, massaged with a mixture of honey, yogurt and various oils and mantras are read. All this in order to open the 7 chakras. Then they wrap it in a large white sheet and decorative fabric. They are placed on a stretcher made of seven bamboo crossbars - also according to the number of chakras.

Family members carry the body to the Ganges and chant the mantra: “Ram nam sagage” - a call to ensure that everything is fine in the next life of this person. The stretcher is dipped into the Ganges. Then the face of the deceased is uncovered, and relatives pour water on it with their hands five times. One of the men of the family shaves his head and dresses in white clothes. If the father died, the eldest son does this, if the mother - younger son, if the wife is the husband. He sets fire to the branches from the sacred fire and walks around the body with them five times. Therefore, the body goes into the five elements: water, earth, fire, air, heaven.

You can only light a fire naturally. If a woman has died, they do not completely burn her pelvis; if a man, they do not burn her rib. The shaved man lets this burnt part of his body into the Ganges and extinguishes the smoldering coals from a bucket over his left shoulder.

At one time, Varanasi was an academic center as well as a religious one. Many temples were built in the city, universities operated and magnificent libraries with texts from Vedic times were opened. However, much was destroyed by the Muslims. Hundreds of temples were destroyed, bonfires with priceless manuscripts burned day and night, and people - carriers of priceless treasures - were also destroyed. ancient culture and knowledge. However, the spirit of the Eternal City could not be defeated. You can feel it even now by walking through the narrow streets of old Varanasi and going down to the ghats (stone steps) on the Ganges River. Ghats are one of the business cards Varanasi (like any sacred city for Hindus), as well as an important sacred place for millions of believers. They serve both for ritual ablution and for burning the dead. In general, ghats are the most popular place for the residents of Varanasi - on these steps they burn corpses, laugh, pray, die, walk, make acquaintances, chat on the phone or just sit.

This city produces the most strong impression to travelers in India, despite the fact that Varanasi does not at all look like a “holiday for tourists”. Life in this sacred city is surprisingly tightly intertwined with death; It is believed that dying in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River, is very honorable. Therefore, thousands of sick and old Hindus flock to Varanasi from all over the country to meet their death here and be freed from the hustle and bustle of life.

Not far from Varanasi is Sarnath, the place where Buddha preached. It is said that the tree growing in this place was planted from the seeds of the Bodhi tree, the same one under which the Buddha received self-realization.

The river embankment itself is a kind of huge temple, the service in which never stops - some pray, others meditate, others do yoga. The corpses of the dead are burned here. It is noteworthy that only the bodies of those who require ritual purification by fire are burned; and therefore the bodies of sacred animals (cows), monks, pregnant women are considered to have already been purified by suffering and, without being cremated, they are thrown into the Ganges. This is the main purpose ancient city Varanasi - to give people the opportunity to free themselves from everything corruptible.

And yet, despite the mission that is incomprehensible, and even more so sad for non-Hindus, this city is quite real city with a population of one million. In the cramped and narrow streets you can hear the voices of people, music sounds, and the cries of merchants can be heard. There are shops everywhere where you can buy souvenirs from ancient vessels to saris embroidered with silver and gold.

The city, although not clean, does not suffer as much from dirt and overcrowding as other Indian cities. big cities- Bombay or Calcutta. However, for Europeans and Americans, the street of any Indian city resembles a giant anthill - there is a cacophony of horns, bicycle bells and shouts all around, and even on a rickshaw it turns out to be very difficult to squeeze through the narrow, albeit central streets.

Dead children under the age of 10, the bodies of pregnant women and smallpox patients are not cremated. A stone is tied to their body and thrown from a boat into the middle of the Ganges River. The same fate awaits those whose relatives cannot afford to buy enough wood. Cremation at the stake costs a lot of money and not everyone can afford it. Sometimes the purchased wood is not always enough for cremation, and then the half-burnt remains of the body are thrown into the river. It is quite common to see the charred remains of dead bodies floating in the river. An estimated 45,000 uncremated bodies are buried in the river bed each year, adding to the toxicity of already heavily polluted water. What shocks visiting Western tourists seems quite natural for Indians. Unlike Europe, where everything happens behind closed doors, in India every aspect of life is visible on the streets, be it cremation, washing clothes, bathing or cooking.

The Ganga River was somehow miraculously able to cleanse itself for many centuries. Until 100 years ago, germs such as cholera could not survive in its sacred waters. Unfortunately, today the Ganga is one of the five most polluted rivers in the world. Primarily due to toxic substances discharged industrial enterprises along the river bed. The level of contamination by some microbes exceeds permissible levels by hundreds of times. What strikes visiting tourists is complete absence hygiene. Ashes of the dead, sewage effluent and offerings float past worshipers as they bathe and perform purification ceremonies in the water. From a medical perspective, bathing in water containing decomposing corpses carries the risk of infections with numerous diseases, including hepatitis. It's a miracle that so many people take a dip and drink the water every day without feeling any harm. Some tourists even join the pilgrims.

Numerous cities located on the Ganges also contribute to the pollution of the river. Based on the report of the Central Pollution Control Board environment It follows that Indian cities recycle only about 30% of their sewage. Nowadays the Ganges, like many other rivers in India, is extremely clogged. It contains more sewage than fresh water. And industrial waste and the remains of cremated people accumulate along its banks.
corpses.

Thus, the First City on Earth (as Varanasi is called in India) produces a strange and incredibly strong, indelible impact on tourists - it is impossible to compare it with anything, just as it is impossible to compare religions, peoples and cultures.