Main Ghat (steps down to the Ganges). Every Maharaja had a palace built here along the riverside.

Bathing at sunrise in the Ganges. That’s an Indian person, not one of us.

The ‘burning’ ghat. There’s a hospice next door where the elderly and sick go – they believe that if they die in Varanasi they will go straight to heaven. Most bodies are burned and the ashes put in the Ganges. There are three tiers of fires depending on what caste someone is, each with a different type of wood. The bodies and fires are looked after by the untouchables.

Women washing in the morning.

Sadhus chilling out.

At night lots of people float candles on the water.

Evening ceremony, which lasts an hour and a half and takes place everyday.