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![](../../THAILEXPICS/Indian%20ghat%20(river%20bank%20or%20water%20reservoir%20with%20steps).jpg) |
ghat |
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![India](../../../IMAGES/Photo%20Flags/Photo%20Flag%20India.jpg) |
Ghats
are steps and platforms at the edges or banks
of rivers. Here
in Varanasi, they are used for bathing... |
...
for doing the laundry, from washing and rinsing to
stretching the clothing and textiles out on the
banks in order to dry them in the open air and sun... |
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![](../../THAILEXPICS/Indian%20ghat%20Varanasi%201.jpg) |
ghat |
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![](../../THAILEXPICS/Indian%20ghat%20Varanasi%202.jpg) |
ghat |
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... for
cremating the dead, both on funeral pyres of wood for
the wealthy and in crematoria fueled with gas for
those who can't afford the prescribed
sandalwood... |
... for deposing off the
remnants of the cremated, a job typically assigned to
the so-called
untouchables or
pariah, unfortunate souls born outside the four regular
Hindu
castes... |
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![](../../THAILEXPICS/Indian%20ghat%20Varanasi%203.jpg) |
ghat |
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![](../../../IMAGES/SocMedTT.png)
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