Manikarnika Ghat: why the masters send seekers to the burning ground
Kashi is built around a cremation ground, and Manikarnika is at its centre. Two teachers from different lineages explain why a seeker might choose to sit there.
Checked by Sadhana Saarthi on
Many visitors want to see Manikarnika once and then look away. The teachers whose words we draw on here suggest the opposite: that watching the fires with attention is a practice yogis have long used. Here is what they say, with the places in their books.
What the source says
- Lineage text
Sadhguru describes Kashi as the Mahasmashana, the great cremation ground, with Manikarnika at its core. In his account the city was deliberately arranged so that death could be a way of going beyond the body.
“The core of Kashi is Manikarnika”
Shiva: Ultimate Outlaw, Sadhguru, "Kashi – Eternal City"
- Lineage text
He writes that yogis traditionally began their practice in cremation grounds, and that seeing how the body is treated after death is a useful thing to face.
Death: An Inside Story, Sadhguru, chapter 1
- Lineage text
In the section on dying in Kashi, he notes that cremation grounds are usually kept away from where people live, while Kashi was built around one. He reports, with a "they say", that the cremation fire has been handed on without going out, and that one family has kept it for generations.
Death: An Inside Story, Sadhguru, chapter 6
- Lineage text
On his website, Sadhguru is asked whether cremation at Manikarnika brings enlightenment. He separates the saying from what it points to: being cremated here meant spending the last part of one's life in Kashi, turned towards inner wellbeing, with capable people nearby to help one leave gracefully.
“Do not misunderstand the marketing for the reality!”
Kashi – A Tower of Light and Shiva’s Luminous City, Sadhguru (website), "Manikarnika Ghat Cremation"
- Lineage text
Sri M describes an evening in his youth: after darshan at the Kashi Vishwanath temple he walked down to Manikarnika and sat on the steps facing the river while the cremations went on. At sunset his teacher appeared beside him and took him to meet an ascetic who lived at the burning ghat.
Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master: A Yogi's Autobiography, Sri M, chapter 39
What tradition holds
- Pilgrim tradition
That dying in Kashi, or being cremated there, brings liberation. This belief is why families bring their dead from far away. Sadhguru reports it as the traditional belief, and reads it as an orientation for the end of life rather than a guarantee.
- Pilgrim tradition
That the fire at the ghat has never gone out. We will record what the keepers of the fire say when we next visit.
What you will find today
The ghat lies on the Ganga between Dashashwamedh Ghat and Scindia Ghat and is open at all hours. Its northern part is used for bathing and its southern part for cremation.
Photography of cremations is not permitted; UP Tourism calls it strictly taboo. Every fire is a family's last rite for someone they loved.
Varanasi can be visited all year. Incredible India describes October to March as the most pleasant months for walking the ghats.
Last checked via Incredible India, Ministry of Tourism (https://www.incredibleindia.gov.in/en/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/manikarnika-ghat and https://www.incredibleindia.gov.in/en/uttar-pradesh/varanasi); UP Tourism, Government of Uttar Pradesh (https://uptourism.gov.in/en/article/manikarnika-ghat).
A practice for this place
Sit where you are clearly out of the way of families and workers, and never between a pyre and the river. Watch one fire for ten minutes without looking away, and notice your breath as you watch.
Then close your eyes and ask, without hurry, what in you will not burn. You do not need an answer. The question is the practice.
We visit this place on our Kashi Yatra. Details here.