Cremations here are public but rich events. The oldest son of the deceased's family leads the funeral rites. First, the body's prepared by immersing it in the Ganges. Then the son circles the funeral pile.

-This is an utterly overwhelming place. I can't really hope to understand this, but you can't help absorb what's going on here.  Finally, having obtained the flame from a member of Don Raj's family, he lights the fire. Like millions of cremated and half-cremated bodies each year, the remains will be put into the Ganges.

-You lived here, didn't you? You lived in Varanasi.

-I lived in Varanasi for more than 8 years. -And presumably, the burning of the bodies is very much part of life.

-It's part of life, but in Ganges, you can say it's special that I have seen what I haven't seen any of it. That's so many bodies being burned in one place, you know. You can see 10 bodies burning here right, if you count, you know, at any moment.