From the archive record
The spectacular prayer ceremony to the Ganga river! People pull strings that ring bells up above... Yes, one needs to pull strings to get things done in India!!! Aarti or puja / pooja / prayers are generally performed one to five times daily, and usually at the end of a puja (in South India) or bhajan session (in North India). The culture of Varanasi is closely associated with the River Ganges and the river's religious importance. The city has been a cultural and religious centre in North India for several thousand years. Birth and death in the city of birth and death! a man collects human ashes and dumps them to a side, even as a corpse burns on the pyre, at the edge of the Ganges river in the ancient city of Benaras, known equally for sarees, filth, squalor, re-birth, religion and more..