Some stay only for a few days, some wait for decades, but old Indians Hindu The crowd of devotees is calm and confident that their one-way journey to death will bring them eternal peace.
India The holy city of Varanasi (formerly known as Benares), where Ganga Nadi A row of pyres burning in slow flames beside the, thousands of Hindu devotees come to spend their last days there every year.
Dying on the banks of the Ganges is considered a guarantee that they will be cremated there and their ashes will be scattered along the steps of the Ganges or in the waters of the ‘ghat’, Hindus believe that this will protect them from others. There is liberation from the cycle of birth.
Badri Prasad Agarwal, 92, traveled 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the western state of Rajasthan and is happy to wait calmly, knowing he is in the right place to die.
Badri Prasad Agarwal, resting at the last stop of his long and difficult life, said: ‘This is God’s own land.’
‘House of God’
He says that his Lord has told him that he has five more months to live.
Badri Prasad Agarwal is content to spend this time in a hospital that caters to those who come to spend their final days in quiet contemplation of their past and future.
Agarwal said: ‘I talk to God every day. I will soon be at peace in the Lord’s house.’
They have found a place to stay in a guest house run by a charity, called Momokshu Bhavan Hospital, a ‘home for salvation seekers’, one of the many ‘salvation homes’ in the city.
The center has 40 rooms that house some of the thousands of people who come to Varanasi to die.
The Agarwals are happy to live here, as it is one of the closest places to the river, just a minute’s walk away.
There the pyre burns continuously, as they have been doing since time immemorial.
For Hindus, the northern city of Varanasi is one of the holiest places in the world.
It is the city of Lord Shiva, the god of destruction, who Hindus say must destroy before re-creating. Seekers of ‘moksha’ or salvation have been coming there for centuries.
‘getting saved’
At Najat Hospital, some people come alone and depend on charity. Some are married couples.
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Others use their lifetime savings for expenses, or bring in relatives to look after them.
There are medical facilities for the sick but death is not something to mourn in this holy city.
Instead, it is considered a blessing, as the elders understand that their souls will be freed from the cycle of life and death.
72-year-old Nathibai moved to Varanasi two years ago and awaits her death at the Mani Karnika crematorium.
She said: ‘I want to be cremated after I die. So that my soul may find peace and my shoulders sink in the Ganges.’
He has seen the commemorations of those who died with their firm belief that salvation lay ahead.
He said, ‘When dead people are taken to be cremated, it is as if you are being enthroned like a god.
‘Very respectful and everything is done very well.’
Gulabbai came with her husband about 30 years ago. Seven years later the husband dies and when their children come to visit, they too are ready to go (die).
A 91-year-old woman dressed in a saffron saree, the sacred color of Hinduism, calmly waits for her turn.
He said: ‘Dying and being cremated here breaks the endless cycle of life and death. Then I will get salvation.’
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2024-09-04 21:06:15
