Manikarnika Ghat

Manikarnika Ghat is marked by the orange glow of funeral pyres that burn continuously, twenty-four hours a day, year after year. As the primary cremation ground in Varanasi, this site draws people from across India who believe that those cremated here attain moksha, or liberation from the cycle of birth and rebirth. The ghat is named after a legend where an ear ornament—a manikarnika—belonging to the goddess Parvati fell into a sacred well dug by Lord Vishnu.