A Stunningly Beautiful Elderly Lady, clad in a saffron coloured dress, with ash and sandalwood paste on her forehead, a double string of rudraksha on her neck sits on the steps of the Varanasi ghats muttering to herself. A huge stick and an earthen bowl is kept next to her. The pilgrims and tourists who pass by put coins in her bowl. She takes the money and gives it to the poor around, keeping aside a few coins sufficient for her dinner, which normally is some fruit or one roti. "This mataji, is from a stinking rich family", says Arun Kumar Sharma, a tea stall owner in Varanasi. "She left everything and came to Varanasi to die".

Ardent Hindus consider dying in Varanasi as the best way of attaining Moksha or transcendation. People leave everything behind, come to Varanasi and wait for their death. Dying here ensures liberation from the cycle of re-birth. The Hindus consider death as an ongoing part of life. A majority of them believe that the body which houses the soul should be destroyed for its release. The rituals which follow cremation are conducted to make sure that the indestructible soul passes on to the other world - the world of Moksha.

"Men and women from different parts of India come to Varanasi for the funeral rites of their relatives," says Nanda Kumar Shastri, who runs an inn for south Indians in Mir Ghat. On one side believers come to Varanasi for attaining Moksha or giving Moksha to their beloved ones, on the other side there are hundreds of people involved in undertaking cremation. People come from far-off villages, carrying on their shoulders a bamboo stretcher with the corpse, walking through the alleyways of Varanasi mumbling ‘Ram Nam Satya hei` (Ram-the only truth) to themselves. Their journey ends either in the Manikarnika ghat or at Harishchandra ghat.

The cremation undertakers in Varanasi are called ‘Dom Raja`. They consider themselves descendants of Kalu Dom who employed Raja Harishchandra a mythological king. The Raja, to keep his word, sold himself to an untouchable, an undertaker of the burial ground. Harishchandra worked as a watchman and cremation undertaker in Kashi. Doms of Kashi consider themselves as Raja`s - the Rajas of the kingdom of the dead.

Doms are scheduled castes who purview the burning ghats - Harishchandra and Manikarnika, of Varanasi. Burning ghats are the places were bodies are burnt. "Bodies are brought here from different parts of the world. The god-fearing Hindu`s would like to be cremated on the banks of the Ganga and are willing to take any steps for that", says Dharmaraj one of the current ‘Dom raja’s’ or ‘Choudhary’s’ in the Manikarnika Ghat.

"In Varanasi there are around 30 Choudharys - the main undertakers, and 430 Doms who are involved in undertaking cremation rites," says Dharmaraj Choudhary. Manikarnika Ghat is the major ghat where most of the burning takes place. Harishschandra ghat is the burial ground for poor people.

"We take whatever the relatives give us", says Dharmaraj. "24 hours we live in smoke, but never demand a huge sum," he adds. Dharmaraj became the Choudhary 19 years ago and he is happy with his profession.

"The government does not give us any benefits. Though we come under the scheduled castes, there is no job reservation for us. Our children will have to take up the same profession," says Kalicharan a Dom in Harishchandra ghats. The police never harass Doms. "Doms are always busy with their work, we have never come across them indulging in illegal activity," says a constable in the Jal Police department.

Major Tasks

There are many tasks involved before and after burning a body. When the body is brought to the ghat, the final ablution should be done in the Ganges. The second step is to remove all the clothes that have been used as a shroud. A group of two three people arrange the funeral pyre. The place can be chosen by the relatives. The next step is to keep the body on the pyre. Being the ‘Dom Raja’, the right of giving the fire to one of selected relatives of the dead, lies only with the Choudhary. Once he gives the fire, the relative can burn the pyre. Doms stand next to the pyre till the body is totally burnt. When the fire stops burning, they collect the ashes and put it in the Ganges. The place is cleared up immediately for another pyre.

Familiarity Breeds no Contempt

It takes three to four hours for a human body to burn. But if sufficient firewood is not kept, and if the undertaker is not careful some portions are left behind. The hips of women and lower back of men take time to burn and are usually left over to be thrown into the Ganges. At a stretch, thirty-forty pyres are burnt in Manikarnika Ghat. Yet, the Doms take it in their stride. They sit close to the pyre, eat their food, discuss their household matters and give directions to the customers. Mahesh, the thirteen-year-old son of Dharamaraj, with smoke-choked eyes says, "That noise is the cracking of the rib-bone," and coolly chews gum.

Malikin and Choudharys

The customary rights of the shamshan ghats of Manikarnika and Harishchandra lies with ‘Malikin` a 75 year-old woman. She is the hereditary manager of the ghats. Choudharys who are next in heirarchy will have to give one-third of their earnings to the Malikin. Malikin is deaf, but her eyes and mind are as alert as ever to the situation around. She reaches the ghat by 7.30 in the morning, to do her prayers, take her breakfast and monitor the whole situation. The number of bodies coming, the money demanded by the Choudharys, etc., is completely under her control. She sits next to the place where the fire is kept burning. This is the fire that the Choudharys use for burning the pyres. She keeps the fire burning, it is her responsibility to see that the fire does not die.

The Choudharys, bargain with the customers for the fee according to their status. The fee for a cremation varies from Rs. 200 to Rs 250.

The Doms who work as helpers to the Choudharys are paid Rs. 100 per body. "The relatives at times, out of their good will pay us something extra," says Bukdhe Choudhary, a cremation undertaker. Daily more than 200 bodies come to Varanasi, even from far of villages.

There is a group of Doms who are engaged in another type of activity. This is to sift the ashes thrown into the Ganga after cremation. They sift this for gold and silver. A majority of the people believe that the ring or chain worn by the deceased should not be removed.

Related Business

For Doms in Manikarnika and Harishchandra Ghat, caring for the dead is a living, but they are not the only group who does it. The timber merchants, who sell different types of wood for burning the dead, the people who sell camphor, ghee etc., the red and off-white coloured cloth sellers, all contribute in one way or the other.

The wood for the cremation costs quite a lot of money. A proper Benaras cremation costs a fortune because sandalwood is used which is very expensive. The logs are weighed to determine the cost of the funeral. It often becomes an expensive affair for the poor who are forced to pledge all their minor earnings in order to afford wood and cremate their loved ones. The rich prefer to put ghee and camphor into the pyre and prices for these things are also on the higher side.

Yet the Ganges Flow Silently

The river is polluted from rapid industrial growth, human habitation and religious practices. There is an age old belief that sadhus, small children and pregnant women should not be burnt. So their bodies tied with stones are immersed in the middle of the river.

The Ganges flows, a silent bearer of all the activity -the bathers performing their religious rites and the ablution of the dead...., dipping of the idols and immersing of corpses - the river of sanctity flows.