While you walk along the narrrow alleys in downtown Varanasi, it is not unusual to have to give way to families carrying their dead relatives.
Bodies, carried on basic stretchers, are wrapped in red and gold fabrics. Once on the Ghat, the body is purified in the Ganges, and then brought to the pile of logs and set on fire. Two or three hours later, only the ashes, and one or two big bones (hips or shoulders), will be left.