An early morning view from the Ganges onto the Dasaswamedh bathing ghat (the "ghat of ten sacrificed horses") in Varanasi. Also known as Benares (or by its ancient name Kasi or Kashi), Varanasi is one of the most sacred pilgrimage and cremation places in the Hindu religion, and devout Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganges purifies body and soul. Up to 60,000 pilgrims a day bathe along the ghats of Varanasi. It is also a major tourist destination for independent travellers to India.

About 100 ghats line the western bank of the Ganges, most of which are bathing ghats, at which people take a dip, brush their teeth, do their laundry, wash their chai cups, and let their buffalos swim and cool down. At the burning ghats, of which the main one is the Manikanika ghat, bodies are cremated, and the ashes and unburnt bones scattered on the waters of the Ganges. Bodies of priests and babies are given over to the holy waters without cremation since they are perceived as innocent.

To die in Varanasi is supposed to guarantee 'moksha'; a release from the cycle of rebirth or reincarnation. Beyond the city's extraordinary atmosphere, part of Varanasi's attraction for the foreign tourist is probably a morbid fascination for unburnt body parts or a dead cow populated by vultures floating in the river. Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

More Varanasi images: photo no 14