Varanasi: Monuments and Historic Buildings

Manikarnika Ghat is regarded as the most important cremation Ghat in Varanasi and is the oldest and most sacred Ghat in this place.

The Hindu mythology states that if a person is burned at Manikarnika Ghat he is liberated from the cycle of birth and rebirth. This Ghat is at the center of the five tirthas.

The Manikarnika Ghat is a symbol of destruction and creation. At this Ghat, when the mortal is delivered to the flames, there are prayers that the souls would rest in eternal peace.

There is a sacred well that is called as the Manikarnika Kund. It is believed that this well was dug by Lord Vishnu when the world was being created. The hot ashes of the burnt bodies are symbolic of the fact that everything in the world would get inevitably destroyed some day.

This Ghat is continuously filled with funeral proceedings. There are many shops where the items required during cremation like clothes, offerings, wood and ghee (a type of clarified butter) is available.

It must be kept in mind that photography is strictly considered as a taboo. So, tourists should make it a point not to take photographs and avoid provocation.