Varanasi, India

Varanasi, a "city situated on the banks of the River Ganges in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is regarded as a holy city by Buddhists and Jains, and is the holiest place in the world in Hinduism (and center of earth in Hindu Cosmology). It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and probably the oldest of India" (Wikipedia). There isn't any amazing site or Temple here. The best thing to do in Varanasi is people watch, get lost in the alleyways and try to take in Hindu culture. I stayed for 5 nights wondering the streets. It is a truly fascinating place, hopefully this will come across some in the pictures.
First,4 pictures from train ride from Kolkata to Varanasi. Not sure why he is playing with himself while the train passes by, or why I take pictures of said action.

VARANASI

There is a large conservative Muslim population in Varansi. There was fear violence would break out after a court ruling regarding a mosque built on a Hindu holy site. Luckily everything remained calm, it was intl news, some of you may have read or heard about it. The site is in a different city. The good news is that most tourists left the city before the ruling (I arrived 2 days after)

Kids playing cricket

Holy Man

over 100 ghats line the Ganges in Varanasi. They are central to Hindu culture. Here is a morning ceremony taking place, led by a Brahman

Evening ceremony

Water Buffalo bathing along a ghat

Hindu Cremation ceremonies openly take place on a few of the 100+ ghats that line the sacred Ganges River in Varanasi. This man likely just lost one of his parents. He is probably the eldest son shaving his head on the river prior to the ceremony out of respect for his lost loved one. 

Men sitting on wood outside of one of the "Burning Ghats". 

Burning Ghat, the bodies burn openly here. The ashes are then thrown into the Ganges

Under the orange cloth is somebody about to be cremated 

Every morning pilgrims and locals bathe in the river

To add a couple thoughts. There are 2 types of cremation ghats, one with wood and the other by electrocution. You are not supposed to take pictures of burning bodies and I respected that for the most part. There were no visible bodies when I took the pictures .If interested can probably google and find pictures of the other cremation ghats. Secondly, if the information I was given is correct there are 6 types of people who are not cremated; infants, pregnant women, victims of snake bite, small pox, lepers, and holy men. Instead their bodies are placed into the river as they were at time of expiration. It is possible to see bodies floating down the river

Next stop, Nepal!