In the mornings in Varanasi, the air on the banks of the Ganges fills with the scent of burning bodies. On the steps of the Manikarnika ghat—the holiest of the city’s stepped riverbanks, upon which ...

According to tradition that reaches back to the foundations of Hinduism, a ritual dip in the Ganges during Kumbh Mela holds the promise of washing away one’s sins. People from all walks of life in ...