Photos from India 2026

While boating on the Ganges River, prior to observing the daily Ganga Aarti worship service, we boated past the Manikarnika Ghat, which is the primary and most sacred cremation ghat on the Ganges River. Funeral pyres burn 24/7 at the Manikarnika Ghat. It is known as a “burning ghat,” and Hindis believe that being cremated here grants liberation from the cycle of rebirth.

Hundreds of bodies are cremated here daily, with fires that have been burning for thousands of years. Dead bodies are brought from more than 600 miles away to be washed in the river before being cremated on wooden pyres. The Manikarnika Ghat is considered to be one of the holiest places for death in Hinduism.

The cremations are open-air and can be witnessed from the steps or from the many, many boats floating on the Ganges River.