other cities with burning ghats

sam78a · Oct 1st, 2009, 10:32

are there any other cities in India other than Varanasi where I can witness burning ghats?

skidmark · Oct 1st, 2009, 12:12

Rishikesh has one.
I'll never forget the look of anguish on the sons face as he lit his father’s pyre. This particular funeral seemed a much larger family than what I’ve seen in Varanasi. It also felt less public as there wasn’t the numbers of seemingly unassociated on lookers.

jyotirmoy · Oct 1st, 2009, 12:18

The Nimtollah Ghat in Kolkata.
The famous crematoriums of Tarapur & Bakreswar.

trooooon · Oct 1st, 2009, 12:20

Pretty much every city has at least one, we do need to cremate them dead after all!

Nigambodh ghat Delhi . . .

Nick-H · Oct 1st, 2009, 13:07

It's quite odd, that funeral watching has become a tourist attraction...

delhiwala · Oct 1st, 2009, 13:28

At Haridwar they have one at Kharkhari, it's almost like Manikarnika at Varanasi as it has continuous cremations...

sam78a · Oct 2nd, 2009, 06:14

i was under the impression that only Varanasi had it becuase it is considered an auspicious place to die.

Obviously, I know you can't walk up to one and take a movie of it, and you have to remember that it is a real funeral involving real people, and not something like a fortress to look at as a monument/tourist attraction.

wonderwomanusa · Oct 2nd, 2009, 06:20

There's a burning place in Puri, the opposite direction from CT Road/fishing village. I don't know how heavily it's used.

Jorge Reverter · Oct 2nd, 2009, 06:57

I've been in this cretaory or burning site in Puri. Is just in front of the beach and beside the stalls where people is frying the fish, etc. and the music shops.., amazing.

Jorge

TimMakins · Oct 2nd, 2009, 08:20

Interesting story about cremations using cow dung on the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8269289.stm

machadinha · Oct 2nd, 2009, 08:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by sam78a

i was under the impression that only Varanasi had it becuase it is considered an auspicious place to die.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trooooon

Pretty much every city has at least one, we do need to cremate them dead after all!

As noted by Tron, where there's a town and a river, there's likely to be a burning ghat (shamshan ghat, or smashan ghat) nearby. (I suppose there may be cremation grounds where there is no river, they just wouldn't be called "ghats" however.)

Aupmanyav · Oct 2nd, 2009, 08:58

Photograph it, film it, who cares? I always have a cup of tea after the pyre is lighted and return before people are ready to leave at Nigambodh ghat. Those relatives in my age bracket always join me, it has become sort of a ritual. Life does not stop due to anyone's dying. The crowd is because of relatives and aquaintances who are required to join. Where there is no river, it could be by the side of a water body, a pond or a lake. If there is no water, then a few bunyan trees will do. Electric cremation is not preferred, I would prefer one below the sky, without a shed.

PeakXV · Oct 2nd, 2009, 09:48

Bagmati/Pashupatinath when in Nepal.

Prashant.M · Oct 2nd, 2009, 10:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aupmanyav

Photograph it, film it, who cares?

Please don't take this as the general rule. It would be severely frowned upon in the burial grounds we use.

Aupmanyav · Oct 2nd, 2009, 13:49

That is right, not the general rule. The funeral ground care-takers may ask for bakshish, tip. You may check with the family.

Oct 1st, 2009, 10:32	#1
sam78a Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: nc Posts: 44	other cities with burning ghats are there any other cities in India other than Varanasi where I can witness burning ghats?

Oct 1st, 2009, 12:12	#2
skidmark Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Seattle, USA Posts: 32	Rishikesh has one. I'll never forget the look of anguish on the sons face as he lit his father’s pyre. This particular funeral seemed a much larger family than what I’ve seen in Varanasi. It also felt less public as there wasn’t the numbers of seemingly unassociated on lookers. __________________ Do you feel more like you do now, than you did when you first got here? ~Grace Slick

Oct 1st, 2009, 12:20	#4
trooooon tj Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Vasant Kunj, New Delhi Posts: 850	Pretty much every city has at least one, we do need to cremate them dead after all! Nigambodh ghat Delhi . . . __________________ what if . . . maybe . . . say . . . suppose!

Oct 1st, 2009, 13:28	#6
delhiwala IM what IM Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Indeyah ! Posts: 4,817	At Haridwar they have one at Kharkhari, it's almost like Manikarnika at Varanasi as it has continuous cremations... __________________ Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone. - The Dhammapada

Oct 2nd, 2009, 06:14	#7
sam78a Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: nc Posts: 44	varanasi i was under the impression that only Varanasi had it becuase it is considered an auspicious place to die. Obviously, I know you can't walk up to one and take a movie of it, and you have to remember that it is a real funeral involving real people, and not something like a fortress to look at as a monument/tourist attraction.

Oct 1st, 2009, 12:18	#3
jyotirmoy Maha Guru Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: India Posts: 5,223	The Nimtollah Ghat in Kolkata. The famous crematoriums of Tarapur & Bakreswar.

Oct 1st, 2009, 13:07	#5
Nick-H This is just a cameo appearance Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 36,225	It's quite odd, that funeral watching has become a tourist attraction...

Oct 2nd, 2009, 06:20	#8
wonderwomanusa Maha Guru Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Northern California Posts: 4,268	There's a burning place in Puri, the opposite direction from CT Road/fishing village. I don't know how heavily it's used. __________________ The map is not the territory. --Alfred Korzybski

Oct 2nd, 2009, 06:57	#9
Jorge Reverter Maha Guru Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Murcia - Spain Posts: 1,466	I've been in this cretaory or burning site in Puri. Is just in front of the beach and beside the stalls where people is frying the fish, etc. and the music shops.., amazing. Jorge

Oct 2nd, 2009, 08:20	#10
TimMakins Surprised and Delighted by Life Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: On the road... Posts: 1,010	Interesting story about cremations using cow dung on the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8269289.stm __________________ Travelling Tim - http://www.mapability.com/blogs/ My images at Lonely Planet - http://tinyurl.com/yk43ams "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain

Oct 2nd, 2009, 08:58	#12
Aupmanyav Search, be your own guru Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 608	Photograph it, film it, who cares? I always have a cup of tea after the pyre is lighted and return before people are ready to leave at Nigambodh ghat. Those relatives in my age bracket always join me, it has become sort of a ritual. Life does not stop due to anyone's dying. The crowd is because of relatives and aquaintances who are required to join. Where there is no river, it could be by the side of a water body, a pond or a lake. If there is no water, then a few bunyan trees will do. Electric cremation is not preferred, I would prefer one below the sky, without a shed.

Oct 2nd, 2009, 09:48	#13
PeakXV Naan.tering Nabob Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Abode of Glooscap Posts: 5,881	Bagmati/Pashupatinath when in Nepal. __________________ What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions? Last edited by PeakXV : Oct 2nd, 2009 at 10:50.

Oct 2nd, 2009, 13:49	#15
Aupmanyav Search, be your own guru Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 608	That is right, not the general rule. The funeral ground care-takers may ask for bakshish, tip. You may check with the family.

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