Some Hindus believe they can break out of the cycle of rebirth if they die and are cremated in the city. Down by the Ganges River, about 100 people are cremated every day across the city. Every day, ...

Nearly 2.5 million people come each year to Varanasi which sits on the banks of the most sacred Indian river. iStockphoto At six in the morning, the alleys of old Varanasi gleam with last night's rain ...

More Indian elderly people are leaving comfortable lives to live their last days in the holy city of Varanasi near the Ganges River, Hinduism's holiest river. By dying in Varanasi, Hindus would be ...

Funeral pyres line the Ganges river in India's holy city of Varanasi, where thousands come each year to spend their final days - Copyright AFP Niharika KULKARNI ...

Renowned Hindi author Kashinath Singh looks back at seven decades he has spent in the holy city of Banaras, or Varanasi, and ...

Though officially abolished decades ago, the caste system still profoundly influences life in India. Those born into high castes enjoy greater privileges, while low-caste individuals, like the Doms, ...

VARANASI, India (RNS) — The Bharat Mata mandir in India’s holiest city has come to represent an ideology that many in Narendra Modi’s constituency hold — a distinctly religious allegiance to the ...

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi submitted his candidacy to recontest the parliamentary seat for the Hindu holy city of Varanasi - Copyright AFP Sajjad HUSSAIN ...

In this photograph taken on August 31, 2024, Hindu devotees offer prayers to the Sun god along the banks of river Ganges, in Varanasi. [AFP] Some stay only days, others wait decades, but the crowds of ...

Some stay only days, others wait decades, but the crowds of elderly Indian Hindu devotees are calm and confident that their one-way pilgrimage to death will deliver everlasting peace. Smouldering ...