Some Hindus believe they can break out of the cycle of rebirth if they die and are cremated in the city. Down by the Ganges River, about 100 people are cremated every day across the city. Every day, ...

More Indian elderly people are leaving comfortable lives to live their last days in the holy city of Varanasi near the Ganges River, Hinduism's holiest river. By dying in Varanasi, Hindus would be ...

Dev Diwali 2025 Varanasi will transform into a river of light on November 5, 2025, for Dev Diwali. This festival celebrates ...

Experience the celestial spectacle of Dev Diwali 2025 in Varanasi — when the Ganga glows with millions of diyas, the gods ...

Dev Deepawali 2025 on November 5 will transform Varanasi’s ghats into a celestial spectacle of lights, devotion, and divine ...

Though officially abolished decades ago, the caste system still profoundly influences life in India. Those born into high castes enjoy greater privileges, while low-caste individuals, like the Doms, ...

Funeral pyres line the Ganges river in India's holy city of Varanasi, where thousands come each year to spend their final days - Copyright AFP Niharika KULKARNI ...

VARANASI, India (RNS) — The Bharat Mata mandir in India’s holiest city has come to represent an ideology that many in Narendra Modi’s constituency hold — a distinctly religious allegiance to the ...

Modi was welcomed at several places in Varanasi, including Sant Atulanand Bypass, near JP Mehta, FCI godown and near the BLW ...

Some stay only days, others wait decades, but the crowds of elderly Indian Hindu devotees are calm and confident that their one-way pilgrimage to death will deliver everlasting peace. Smouldering ...