Indian Pilgrim watching the sacred Ganges River.
Varanasi, the holiest Hindu city, is perpetually overflowing with Pilgrims. Varanasi was already thriving in 500 BC when Buddha came to Sarnath to give his first sermon making it sacred to Buddhists too. Indians believe that the Ganges, the sacred river that runs through Varanasi, has its source in the footprints of Shiva, and that bathing in the Ganges from one of its ghats –ritual stairways leading to the river– cleanses all the sins. Visiting Varanasi at least once in a lifetime is every Indian’s goal, and dying there insures the greatest chance of moksha (release from the cycle of rebirth).
Excerpt from the Sadhu story by J-Philippe Soule.

ID # indiavaranasi1
Copyright 2002 - Jean-Philippe Soule
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