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  • Worshipers perform religious rituals at Longshan Temple in Taipei, Taiwan.
    TAI_081228_626_xw.jpg
  • Jewish worshippers say their prayers at the Western Wall, in Old City, Jerusalem, Israel.
    ISR_081024_107_xw.jpg
  • Worshipers perform religious rituals at Longshan Temple in Taipei, Taiwan.
    TAI_081228_247_xw.jpg
  • "Costaleros" carrying an ornate float through the streets of Salamanca during Semana Santa (Holy Week) in the rain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070407_564_rwx.jpg
  • Two visitors standing at the  Mount of Olives, Israel, look out over the cemetery toward the gold-leafed Dome of the Rock, the most famous Islamic monument in the Old City of Jerusalem. (From the book What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets.)
    ISR_081026_191_xxw.jpg
  • The Old City of Jerusalem and Jewish Cemetery seen from the Mount of Olives, Israel. The church at the center is the Russian church of Mary Magdalene.
    ISR_081026_260_xw.jpg
  • Hooded penitents in a procession during Holy week in Seville, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_128_xs.jpg
  • Hooded penitents in a night-time procession during Holy week in Seville, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_124_xs.jpg
  • Unmasked "Nazareños" in a Salamanca, Spain, church getting ready for the procession which has been delayed by rain during Semana Santa (Holy Week). Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070407_443_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_763_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_715_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_255_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_164_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week), Salamanca, Spain.  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_026_rwx.jpg
  • A hooded penitent in a procession during Holy week in Madrid, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070405_315_rwx.jpg
  • Hooded penitents in a procession during Holy week in Madrid, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070405_071_rwx.jpg
  • A procession leaving a neighborhood church during holy week in Seville, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_127_xs.jpg
  • Hooded penitents in a procession during Holy week in Seville, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_126_xs.jpg
  • Hooded penitents in a procession during Holy week in Seville, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_125_xs.jpg
  • Hooded penitents in a night-time procession during Holy week in Seville, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_122_xs.jpg
  • Hooded penitents in a night-time procession during Holy week in Seville, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_121_xs.jpg
  • Hooded penitents in a night-time procession during Holy week in Seville, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_120_xs.jpg
  • Hooded penitents in a procession during Holy week in Seville, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers
    SPA_119_xs.jpg
  • A procession leaving the cathedral during holy week in Seville, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_118_xs.jpg
  • A hooded penitent in a night-time procession during Holy week in Seville, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_116_xs.jpg
  • "Costaleros" carrying an ornate float through the streets of Salamanca during Semana Santa (Holy Week) in the rain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070407_550_rwx.jpg
  • "Costaleros" carrying an ornate float through the streets of Salamanca during Semana Santa (Holy Week) in the rain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070407_545_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers
    SPA_070407_371_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070407_347_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_751_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_360_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_289_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_288_rwx.jpg
  • A hooded penitent in a procession during Holy week in Salamanca, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_119_rwx.jpg
  • A hooded penitent in a procession during Holy week in Madrid, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070405_353_rwx.jpg
  • A young hooded penitent in a procession during Holy week in Salamanca, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070405_129_rwx.jpg
  • A hooded penitent in a procession during Holy week in Madrid, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070405_070_rwx.jpg
  • The Longshan Temple in downtown Taipei, although officially Buddhist and dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy, has traces of many other folk religions. (From the book What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets.)
    TAI_081228_188_xxw.jpg
  • Sweet, fried boondi, a spiced chickpea flour confection, is prepared for pilgrims in a camp at an ashram during the Kumbh Mela festival in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India. (From the book What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets.) Every camp has its own large/small kitchen where food is prepared for people residing in that particular camp as well as outsiders who would walk in and out for lunch/dinner. Boondi can be a savory preparation or even sweet. A thin consistency dough is prepared using gram flour, water and spices. This boondi can be made sweet by putting in sugar syrup (prepared separately) and soaked in the syrup. Cardamom, dry fruits may be added in the syrup for flavor. The Kumbh Mela festival is a sacred Hindu pilgrimage held 4 times every 12 years, cycling between the cities of Allahabad, Nasik, Ujjain and Haridwar.  Participants of the Mela gather to cleanse themselves spiritually by bathing in the waters of India's sacred rivers.  Kumbh Mela is one of the largest religious festivals on earth, attracting millions from all over India and the world.  Past Melas have attracted up to 70 million visitors.
    IND_040423_017_xx_xw.jpg
  • Pilgrims take their turn to bath in the Shipra River during the Kumbh Mela festival, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India. (From the book What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets.)
    IND_040419_440_xxw.jpg
  • Women carry girls in Christmas colors on a motorcycle in Hanoi, Vietnam.
    VIE_081221_588_xw.jpg
  • Worshipers perform religious rituals at Longshan Temple in Taipei, Taiwan.
    TAI_081228_613_xw.jpg
  • Worshipers perform religious rituals at Longshan Temple in Taipei, Taiwan.
    TAI_081228_161_xw.jpg
  • Worshipers go through religious rituals at Longshan Temple in Taipei, Taiwan.
    TAI_081228_128_xw.jpg
  • A Jewish Cemetery in Old City Jerusalem as seen from the Mount of Olives, Israel.
    ISR_081026_007_xw.jpg
  • A view of Old City Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, Israel. The golden dome in the center is the Dome of the Rock.
    ISR_081026_004_xw.jpg
  • A boy reads a religious scripture at the Western Wall, in the Old City, Jerusalem, Israel.
    ISR_081024_259_xw.jpg
  • Hooded penitents in a night-time procession during Holy week in Seville, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_123_xs.jpg
  • A procession leaving the cathedral during holy week in Seville, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_117_xs.jpg
  • A hooded penitent in a night-time procession during Holy week in Seville, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_115_xs.jpg
  • "Costaleros" carrying an ornate float through the streets of Salamanca during Semana Santa (Holy Week) in the rain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070407_536_rwx.jpg
  • Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_310_rwx.jpg
  • Young altar boys accompanying hooded penitents in a procession during Holy week in Salamanca, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070406_067_rwx.jpg
  • Hooded penitents in a procession during Holy week in Madrid, Spain. Street processions are organized in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. People carry statues of saints on floats or wooden platforms, and an atmosphere of mourning can seem quite oppressive to onlookers.
    SPA_070405_306_rwx.jpg
  • Customers at the check out stand of a supermarket in the city of Reykjavik, Iceland.
    ICE_040525_002_xw.jpg
  • Buddhist ceremony after the cremation ceremony with relatives and monks in the family home in honor of Mr. Voua Sy Amkha, 63, a propaganda official for the Lao government in Luang Prabang, Laos, who died of a stroke. His funeral was held over a series of days—first at home with family and monks in Ban Navieng Kham village, a suburb of Luang Prabang, then cremation at the central crematorium site in Ban Vieng Mai, and then again at home a few days after the cremation ceremony.
    LAO_110319_775_x.jpg
  • Ascetic Hindu Priest--called a Sadhu, cloaks himself in a funeral shroud used to adorn bodies before they are cremated (left behind by mourners) at the main burning ghat in Varanasi.
    IND_040416_447_x.jpg
  • Buddhist ceremony after the cremation ceremony with relatives and monks in the family home in honor of Mr. Voua Sy Amkha, 63, a propaganda official for the Lao government in Luang Prabang, Laos, who died of a stroke. His funeral was held over a series of days—first at home with family and monks in Ban Navieng Kham village, a suburb of Luang Prabang, then cremation at the central crematorium site in Ban Vieng Mai, and then again at home a few days after the cremation ceremony.
    LAO_110319_766_x.jpg
  • Ritual waters from the Ganges River are poured onto the face of the body of Savitridevi Mishra, who lived near the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat. Wrapped in a shroud of yellow and gold and decorated with marigold garlands, the woman will be burned upon a funeral pyre at the cremation grounds in a rite officiated by the eldest living male in her family.
    IND_040417_349_x.jpg
  • Durga Tiwari, 35, attends to her dead mother, Savitridevi Mishra, just before she is taken to the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat.
    IND_040416_549_x.jpg
  • Durga Tiwari, 35, is comforted by a family member as her mother, Savitridevi Mishra, is taken to the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat.
    IND_040416_533_x.jpg
  • This is the last letter written by a young Nepalese boy studying sanskrit at an ashram in Varanasi who was swimming with friends in the Ganges River and drowned.
    IND_040415_310_x.jpg
  • Across the Ganges River from the cremation ghats in Varanasi, India, human remains wash up on the sandy shore. A human skull.
    IND_040415_152_x.jpg
  • A man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre at the Harishchandra cremation grounds. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040415_078_x.jpg
  • A young girl in a rowboad sells floating votive candles to mourners and also tourists near the Dashashwamedh Ghat, on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India.
    IND_040414_281_x.jpg
  • A young girl in a rowboad sells floating votive candles to mourners and also tourists near the Dashashwamedh Ghat, on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India.
    IND_040414_280_x.jpg
  • Death is part of the fabric of life for Hindus and like much of Indian society, takes place in open view. In the early morning men and women wash clothes in the river, slapping dhoti, saris, and other pieces of clothing against rocks and cement slabs as others tend to the bodies burning on the shore at Harishchandra Ghat.
    IND_040413_308_x.jpg
  • A lone goat at the Harishchandra Ghat eats marigold garlands that once adorned the bodies dipped into the Ganges River for final ritual baths before cremation in Varansi, India. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040412_999_x.jpg
  • Gopal Jee Singh, 65, from Bihar, holds a butter lamp above his dead wife Subhadra Singh, 60 for a local photographer who takes photographs at the burning ghats and sells prints to families that want a keepsake. Subhadra died last night at 8 p.m. and he and his sons brought her here to Varanasi for the funeral rite, arriving at 3 a.m..Mr. Singh says that his wife didn't want to be cremated and so he and their sons brought her here to the Ganges for a different funeral ritual then most others have.
    IND_040412_748_x.jpg
  • Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore, a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death. Not every Hindu can be cremated here, because of transportation costs and logistical considerations.
    IND_040412_721_x.jpg
  • The eldest son, Brajesh Kumar Singh, accompanies the body of his mother, Subhadra Singh, 60, to the center of the Ganges River for a water burial as her husband Gopal Jee Singh, 65, stands on the shore at Jalasi ghat and watches. The body is weighed down with a rock and will be released into the water, as was Subhadra's wish, rather than being cremated.
    IND_040412_708_x.jpg
  • A young girl picks her way along the shoreline as a body burns at the Harishchandra cremation grounds. Just up river a man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040412_411_x.jpg
  • A rowboat passes, distorted by the heat waves rising from a body burning at the Harishchandra cremation grounds on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. Just up river a man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040412_361_x.jpg
  • The main mourner, usually the eldest son or closest male family member, prepares for cremation rituals by getting his head and face shaved. There are a prescribed set of rituals for the entire process that started at the family's home with the washing of the body and wrapping for the travel to the burning ghats. The main mourner's hair and facial hair is shorn, (cost 15 rupees, by one of the many barbers near the ghats) and his nails are cut.
    IND_040412_328_x.jpg
  • Faith D'Aluisio and Neha Diddee wait for an official at the Varanasi, India, police station to give them the official document permitting photography of cremation on the city's burning ghats on the Ganges River. Normally it is forbidden to photograph cremation ceremonies at The Mother Ganges, as the Hindis who consider its waters sacred call it. Varanasi, India.
    IND_040410_production001_x.jpg
  • The main mourner, usually the eldest son or closest male family member, prepares for cremation rituals by getting his head and face shaved. There are a prescribed set of rituals for the entire process that started at the family's home with the washing of the body and wrapping for the travel to the burning ghats. The main mourner's hair and facial hair is shorn, (cost 15 rupees, by one of the many barbers near the ghats) and his nails are cut. Family members at home also are shaved and cut.
    IND_040410_135_x.jpg
  • A woman relaxes and reads a magazine as a massage therapist attends to her foot at a foot massage spa in Taipei, Taiwan.
    TAI_081228_572_xw.jpg
  • A young girl in a rowboad sells floating votive candles to mourners and tourists near the Dashashwamedh Ghat, on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. The most visited ghat of Varanasi by religious pilgrims, Dashashwamedh ghat is the most beautiful ghat in the city. The ghat is close to the famous 'Vishwanath Temple' and is therefore of high religious importance. The most enticing part is the evening 'Puja' performed by the group of priests. Also known as the 'Fire Puja', the ceremony is a dedication to River Ganges, Sun, Lord Shiva, Fire and the whole universe. The Ghats finds mention in the old religious texts, as it is said that lord Brahma created the ghats to welcome lord Shiva.
    IND_040414_281_xw.jpg
  • IND_040417_239_x<br />
Peter Menzel photographing at Manikarnika Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi India. The Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one’s body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore—a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death. Not every Hindu can be cremated here, because of transportation costs and logistical considerations. Sometimes a body is burned in one location and the ashes brought to Varanasi. There are other rivers in India, such as the Shipra which flows through the sacred city of Ujjain, that are considered sacred as well, but none holds the importance of the Ganges. Sometimes a small dummy representing the person will be burned at Jalasi.<br />
Only male family members are present and tend to the bodies at the cremation site as no show of emotion is allowed and also, they don’t want any of them jumping onto the fire, says one manager at the ghat. The body is carried to the water’s edge for a last dip, and then the main mourner prepares for his role in the ritual burning.<br />
The main mourner—usually the eldest son or closest male family member’s hair and facial hair is shorn, and his nails are cut. He wears a simple dhoti (traditional Indian male’s wraparound clothing). The chief mourner follows a prescribed ritual, which involves circling the body and showering it with ghee (clarified butter) and incense—like sandalwood—again often purchased from one of the local funereal accessories vendors. It takes about three hours for an average sized body to burn completely. If a family is poor and doesn’t have enough money to buy the right amount of wood to burn the body, then wood left over from other fires might be used. It takes about 350 kilos of wood to burn a body completely.<br />
Afterward, the workers dump ashes from the burned pyres and douse
    IND_040417_239_x.jpg
  • Donated items and money fill and adorn small funerary houses in the front of the family home in honor of Mr. Voua Sy Amkha, 63, a propaganda official for the Lao government in Luang Prabang, Laos, who died of a stroke. His funeral was held over a series of days—first at home with family and monks in Ban Navieng Kham village, a suburb of Luang Prabang, then cremation at the central crematorium site in Ban Vieng Mai, and then again at home a few days after the cremation ceremony.
    LAO_110319_791_x.jpg
  • Donated items and money fill and adorn small funerary houses in the front of the family home in honor of Mr. Voua Sy Amkha, 63, a propaganda official for the Lao government in Luang Prabang, Laos, who died of a stroke. His funeral was held over a series of days—first at home with family and monks in Ban Navieng Kham village, a suburb of Luang Prabang, then cremation at the central crematorium site in Ban Vieng Mai, and then again at home a few days after the cremation ceremony.
    LAO_110319_781_x.jpg
  • Buddhist ceremony after the cremation ceremony with relatives and monks in the family home in honor of Mr. Voua Sy Amkha, 63, a propaganda official for the Lao government in Luang Prabang, Laos, who died of a stroke. His funeral was held over a series of days—first at home with family and monks in Ban Navieng Kham village, a suburb of Luang Prabang, then cremation at the central crematorium site in Ban Vieng Mai, and then again at home a few days after the cremation ceremony.
    LAO_110319_757_x.jpg
  • Donated items and money fill and adorn small funerary houses in the front of the family home in honor of Mr. Voua Sy Amkha, 63, a propaganda official for the Lao government in Luang Prabang, Laos, who died of a stroke. His funeral was held over a series of days—first at home with family and monks in Ban Navieng Kham village, a suburb of Luang Prabang, then cremation at the central crematorium site in Ban Vieng Mai, and then again at home a few days after the cremation ceremony.
    LAO_110319_742_x.jpg
  • Donated items and money fill and adorn small funerary houses in the front of the family home in honor of Mr. Voua Sy Amkha, 63, a propaganda official for the Lao government in Luang Prabang, Laos, who died of a stroke. His funeral was held over a series of days—first at home with family and monks in Ban Navieng Kham village, a suburb of Luang Prabang, then cremation at the central crematorium site in Ban Vieng Mai, and then again at home a few days after the cremation ceremony.
    LAO_110319_738_x.jpg
  • Donated items and money fill and adorn small funerary houses in the front of the family home in honor of Mr. Voua Sy Amkha, 63, a propaganda official for the Lao government in Luang Prabang, Laos, who died of a stroke. His funeral was held over a series of days—first at home with family and monks in Ban Navieng Kham village, a suburb of Luang Prabang, then cremation at the central crematorium site in Ban Vieng Mai, and then again at home a few days after the cremation ceremony.
    LAO_110319_722_x.jpg
  • Durga Tiwari, 35, is comforted by a family member as her mother, Savitridevi Mishra, is taken to the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat. This after the body has been washed, draped in a red and yellow shroud and marigold garlands and photographed for a family remembrance.
    IND_040417_329_x.jpg
  • Peter Menzel photographing at Manikarnika Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi India. The Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat.
    IND_040417_245_x.jpg
  • The clay Kumbha (water pot) has a special significance in the Hindu cremation ritual. It is blessed in the early stages of the ritual and then, most often during the series of rituals designed to ensure the proper path in death for a loved one, the Kumbha is carried by a mourner three times around the burning body then dropped (and it breaks).
    IND_040417_213_x.jpg
  • An exhausted mourner sits above the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat and lets ashes rain down on him. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore, a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death.
    IND_040417_173_x.jpg
  • A relative splashes Ganges River water onto the face of Savitridevi Mishra at the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat.
    IND_040416_523_x.jpg
  • Durga Tiwari, 35, is comforted by a family member as her mother, Savitridevi Mishra, is taken to the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat. This after the body has been washed, draped in a red and yellow shroud and marigold garlands and photographed for a family remembrance.
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  • A woman named Savitridevi Mishra died at 4 o'clock this morning and lies on the paving stones in the center of a square ringed by apartments near Manikarnika Ghat and the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat. A local photographer has come to take a commemorative photograph (at left).
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  • Dashashwamedh Ghat is the most visited ghat of Varanasi by religious pilgrims, Dashashwamedh ghat is the most beautiful ghat in city. The ghat is close to the famous 'Vishwanath Temple' and is therefore of high religious importance. The most enticing part is the evening 'Puja' performed by the group of priests. Also called as 'Fire Puja', the ceremony is a dedication to River Ganges, Sun, Lord Shiva, Fire and the whole universe. The Ghats finds mention in the old religious texts, as it is said that lord Brahma created the ghats to welcome lord Shiva.  Early morning.  Varanasi, India..
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  • A potbellied man floats during an early morning swim in the river Ganga. Near the Dashashwamedh ghat. Colorful and popular Dasasvamedha Ghat gets a lot of attention from religious pilgrims, locals, and tourists alike and is one of the busiest bathing ghats in the city of Varanasi.
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  • A young Nepalese boy studying sanskrit at an ashram in Varanasi was swimming with friends in the Ganges River and drowned.
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  • A young Nepalese boy studying sanskrit at an ashram in Varanasi was swimming with friends in the Ganges River and drowned.
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  • A decomposing cow floats in the Ganges River across from the cremation ghats in Varanasi, India. Human remains also wash up on the sandy shore on this side of the Ganges. Varanasi, India.
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  • These bells adorn the top of a shrine overlooking the Ganges river at the Harishchandra Ghat, Varanasi, India. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
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  • A man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre at the Harishchandra cremation grounds. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
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  • A young girl in a rowboad sells floating votive candles to mourners and also tourists near the Dashashwamedh Ghat, on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India.
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Peter Menzel Photography

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