From the archive record
Out to photograph Hindu dead bodies being cremated along the riverside ghats of Varanasi or Benarus, foreign tourists boat alongside and photograph the spectacle in a macabre sort of 'cremation tourism' that also provides business for the boatmen involved. Varanasi / Banaras, is a city on the banks of the Ganges (Ganga) in Uttar Pradesh, 320 kilometres (200 mi) southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It is the holiest of the seven sacred cities (Sapta Puri) in Hinduism and Jainism, and played an important role in the development of Buddhism. Some Hindus believe that death at Varanasi brings salvation. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the oldest in India.Varanasi is also known as the favourite city of the Hindu deity Lord Shiva as it has been mentioned