VARANASI (INDIA) - They arrive in battered cars, on crutches and sometimes on a stretcher barely able to breathe -- but salvation is close for thousands of Hindus who go to the holy city of Varanasi each year to die. Hindus believe that dying in Varanasi releases them from the eternal cycle of life and death reincarnation. Because of the growing development in Varanasi, Mukti Bhawan, which is run by a charity, no longer has a view of the river. Shukla reckons more than 15,000 people have died at Mukti Bhawan and been taken to the Ganges for cremation since it opened in about 1908. And while Hindus maintain their undying belief in Varanasi's spiritual powers the Mukti Bhawan path to salvation has a bright future, he says.

Source: Bangkok Post February 14, 2019 03:22 UTC