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From ashes to gold, quest for livelihood at a Varanasi ghat

Aug 29, 2022 02:03 AM IST

The tradition has become a means of livelihood for some 300 people belonging to the Dom community residing on the cremation ghat of Varanasi.

VARANASI: The eternal cycle of life, death and belief in rebirth is punctuated by a gold quest among ashes of the departed at Manikarnika Ghat, the holiest and biggest cremation ground on the banks of the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi.

The leftover ashes, charcoal and other remains are taken to the banks of the Ganga, where a group of people watched by the in-charge begins the process of looking for gold. (HT Photo)
The leftover ashes, charcoal and other remains are taken to the banks of the Ganga, where a group of people watched by the in-charge begins the process of looking for gold. (HT Photo)

On a typical day, bodies draped in red and golden shimmery clothes start arriving from early morning. As per the local tradition in Kashi, some bodies are accompanied by drummers, while a few arrive with local brass bands.

On one side, people are seen busy purchasing logs for the pyre. Chanting of sacred hymns by family members during cremation and thick smoke from the funeral pyres fills the air, making it difficult for people even to open their eyes. Cows and goats chew on the marigold garlands left behind from funeral rites at the ghat, while beggars keep busy looking for alms.

Just a few yards away is a group of people, bare-chested and armed with a shallow pan, a stack charcoal and ashes. They can be seen swirling the pan around gradually in the river water, observing the remains closely.

This seemingly cumbersome act lasts for some six to seven hours a day. It yields gold worth 10,000 to 15,000 a day to every group member. Those engaged in the act are the people of the Dom community, corpse burners who try to find gold by washing away the ashes and remains of the funeral pyre in the river water. Doms belong to the Dalit community.

Gold is one of the most important elements among the cremation samagri (material), locals said, adding that the history of Doms’ quest is said to be as old as that of Varanasi’s.

“In Hindu religion, there is a belief that putting a piece of gold into the mouth, nostrils or ears of the deceased at the time of cremation protects the soul as it passes over and enables it to get closer to god,” says Kamal Dev Pandey, a priest who carries out last rites at the ghat. “This rite is also considered the final sanskar (custom) and ensures that the soul of the person is not stuck on earth (bhulok) or the region of the dead (mrityulok).”

It is also believed if a gold bead, or piece of coin is placed inside the mouth, it helps the soul acquire positive momentum, says Pandey. It reduces the possibility of bring enslaved by negative energies, he adds.

Other than such beliefs, people say there are some well-off families who don’t bother about taking out ornaments, including nose pins, ear rings and finger rings, from the body. There are also some families that put in a sizable amount of gold in the mouth of the dead, nose and ear at the time of cremation.

The tradition has become a means of livelihood for some 300 people belonging to the Dom community residing on the cremation ghat of Varanasi.

“Cremation is the only thing that we can do and which we have been doing since ages. It is the only source of income for us,” says Satyadev Chaudhary, 45, who is tired of his job, and is now looking forward to different job opportunities for his children. “Our family depends upon the income from the cremation, be it what we get from family members while performing last rites, or what we get in the form of gold through the ashes.”

Chaudhary says he is illiterate. He never thought of going to school, neither was he forced by his parents to study. As a result, he joined his father’s profession and ended up as a corpse burner at Manikarnika Ghat.

Their day at the ghat begins at around 6am, when a senior member of the Dom community, often referred to as Dom raja, takes charge of cremation. People from the community said it is like appointing a day officer, who is selected on the basis of a cycle through which every member from the community gets a chance to be an in-charge.

“Once charge is taken, the entire activity at the ghat is governed by that person, be it carrying out cremation or collecting ashes and other remains from the pyre,” says Pawan Chaudhary, another member of the Dom community.

After a body is brought to the cremation ground, it is cremated and the asthi (ashes and some charred bones) are collected in an earthen urn, he says. The family of the dead collects the ashes on the third day after the cremation, while the remains of the pyre are kept aside by the in-charge, he adds.

Then, the quest for searching gold begins.

The leftover ashes, charcoal and other remains are taken to the banks of the Ganga, where a group of people watched by the in-charge begins the process of looking for gold.

“The method is called gold panning. The gravel and remains from the pyre are scooped on a shallow utensil and then panned in the river water, allowing the less weighty materials to spill out of the pan, leaving behind heavy metals like gold,” says Satyadev Chaudhary, who was the cremation in-charge at the ghat on Friday.

Sitting at a corner, Chaudhary keenly observes every group member as they search for gold in the ashes. In his 35 years on the job as a corpse burner, he said he has seen many moments where those hunting for gold get a sizable amount of the yellow metal.

“Sab kismat ka khel hai (it’s all a dance of fate). I remember almost a decade back, the body of a female, heavily decked with ornaments of gold and silver, perhaps belonging to the family of a rich person, arrived at the ghat,” he recollects. “The family chose to cremate the body as it was. My friend, who was in-charge that day, managed to collect around 40 grams of gold and silver.”

But those are exceptional cases, he admits.

However, given the influx of a large number of bodies at the Manikarnika Ghat, the biggest cremation ground in Varanasi that sees over 100 pyres lit in a day, every group member gets around one to two grams of gold worth 5,000 to 11,000 almost every day.

Choudhary was not as fortunate as his other Dom friends as he could only get around 6 gram of gold after panning for almost six hours on Friday.

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