Laurie Bergner
April 2024 - Cremation in Varanasi.
About the Image(s)
Canon camera: ISO 400, 12mm, f/2.8, 1/640 sec
Varanasi, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, is situated on the River Ganges, the holiest river in India. It is believed that if you die in Varanasi, you end the cycle of reincarnation and achieve moksha, or release from reincarnation. After a person dies, their body is washed by their family. Then the men carry the body to one of the burning ghats. When you visit Varanasi, you can sometimes see bodies being carried to the river, where they will be washed. Then they place the body on a funeral pyre to be cremated by the river. After cremation, the ashes are spread in the river. While there is one ghat where most of the cremations are done, I came upon this smaller one when I was walking along the river further from the main one. There it was, right in front of me. It's an amazing experience to have death be so much a part of life, not hidden as it is in Western countries. In this photo, you can see the men carrying the body, and you can also see burning funeral pyres by the water.
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8 comments posted
With my cultural background, it was an experience visiting the ghat in the early morning watching the rising sun as the bodies were cremated on the ghat.
I see the story has carrying the man to the funeral pyre. I find my eye carried out of the image by the upward right diagonal cement. I think the story might be stronger by removing the distraction of the wall, straightening it, and adding more color contrast which would draw the eye to the orange robes and fire, thus connecting the two areas. Straightening the image leads to a tighter crop which would still include the sacred river. You could even crop more from the top than I have suggested in the attached. Posted: 04/11/2024 06:26:14
Photographically, it is difficult to differentiate between smoke and cloudy-foggy day. Could be there is enough smoke in the air to make it look gray-ish. While part of me wants to see the men's expression, the photographer in me says that would be an invasion in privacy.
Not sure what the boats in the river means...is that where they take the ashes to be washed away?
Posted: 04/21/2024 10:35:24
