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I should be so lucky to die in Varanasi and have my ashes thrown in the Ganges River. This would give me moksha - a break in the cycle of life, allowing my soul to spend eternity in Heaven. I would like that. Reincarnation is really getting old. 

In fact, it sounds like the ideal death... just not this visit! Let's give it another 40 years. Moksha can wait. 

Manikarnika Ghat truly is the place to die if you’re done with reincarnation and ready to break free. The flames never stop burning, sending many souls to eternity each day. 

The ritual goes something like this:

Bodies are brought here on bamboo stretchers, wrapped in shrouds and covered with flowers. Getting there is quite difficult. So, the family carries the body thru the narrow alleyways to the cremation site. 

Before the body is placed on the funeral pyre, it is washed in the Ganges River to purify it. The family members shave their heads. This ritual is called Mundan and is meant to signify a renouncing of the physical world, since hair is seen as a symbol of vanity.   

The last rites are preformed, and the body is placed on the wood for cremation. The primary woods used are sandal wood and mango wood. Next the fire is lit using an eternal flame that is said to have been burning for centuries. 

This fire must never be allowed to go out. It is sacred, tended to by the Dom caste for thousands of years. This is the fire that releases souls from their cycle of life.

Once the body is burned, and the embers cool, the ashes are gathered and thrown into the Holy Ganges River to be carried off into eternity.

What a beautiful way to go. There were no histrionics, tears, or solemn funeral processions here. It was more a celebration - the liberation of a soul from its Earthly bondage.

Amen. Praise the Lord.

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