Page 212 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

210  CENTR AL INDIA

Varanasi: Nepali Ghat to Panchaganga Ghat

Along this stretch is the famed Manikarnika Ghat, one of the
city’s two cremation ghats. According to legend, Shiva’s mani
(crest jewel) and his consort Parvati’s karnika (earring) fell
into the nearby well while they were bathing, hence the
name. Dying in Varanasi is a cause of celebration for Hindus,
as it is believed to bestow instant salvation or moksha
(liber ation from the cycle of birth and death). It is said that
Shiva whispers into the ears of the dying, and the old
and infirm, sages and ordinary people, come Locator Map
Nepali Ghat to Panchaganga Ghat
here to breathe their last.
0 metres 50
0 yards 50

Jalasen Ghat

Nepali Ghat
A statue of the Nandi bull stands
outside a pagoda-style, woodwork
temple, built by the royal
family of Nepal.

Scindia Ghat
Manikarnika Ghat The elaborate structures on this ghat
Funeral pyres burn day and night at this cremation were so top heavy that they collapsed,
ghat, while bodies wrapped in shrouds lie on biers and were rebuilt by Daulat Rao Scindia
besides piles of wooden logs. In the middle of the of Gwalior in 1937. A temple stands
ghat is the well (kund) that Vishnu carved out with half submerged in the river, with its
his discus before the Ganges flowed here. sanctum knee deep in the water.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p696 and pp708–709

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