2 hours agoWriters: Ashish Urmalia and Devanshu Tiwari
On September 1, 2022, we reached Manikarnika while walking through the narrow streets of Banaras. Even before reaching the ghat, we saw 10 to 15 dead bodies kept in queues in the streets. Moving a little further, some people were seen carrying the dead bodies on the boat.
In fact, Manikarnika Ghat, which is called the Maha crematorium of Kashi, has submerged in the Ganges. People have to resort to boats to take the dead bodies to the place where the dead are burnt. The people of Dom society, who perform rituals at the ghat, are also horrified by this formidable form of the Ganges.
Bhaskar reached ground zero and took stock of the whole situation. Along with this, talk to the people who arrange wood on the Dome society and the ghat and know their condition. Let’s go through everything one by one…
Due to the drowning of Masaan, 30% of the Dome society stopped work
This picture is of Manikarnika Ghat crematorium. Amarjeet Choudhary of Dom Samaj said, “Our people work here on duty.”
Amarjeet Chaudhary of Dom Samaj has been performing rituals at Manikarnika Ghat for the last 10 years. Pointing to the water of the Ganges rising inch by inch, he says, “It has been 20 days, I have not seen Masaan Baba. Ever since this work started, I have never seen so much flood. If the water does not subside, then the funeral will have to be stopped here in the coming time.”
Amarjeet further says, “The work of burning the dead is also done at Harishchandra Ghat. Most of the Dom society lives around these ghats. Most of the houses here are half submerged. That’s why 30% of our fraternity are unable to come to work at the moment.”
5000 quintals of wood got wet in flood, cremation took hours
Sheetal Prasad, the owner of a wood shop at Manikarnika Ghat, says – Due to being wet, the wood is being sold for Rs 100 less.
Raju Chaudhary of Dom Raja family said that before the floods, 80 to 100 dead bodies were burnt here every day, but now hardly 30-40 bodies are coming due to water filling the ghat. So far more than 5000 quintals of girl child have become wet due to flood water. Due to this the cremation work is getting delayed and people are suffering for hours.
Dead bodies being burnt in the streets at Harishchandra Ghat
After the rise in the water level of Ganga, cremation is being done in the streets adjoining Harishchandra Ghat.
Dom Bahadur Choudhary, who performed the last rites at Harishchandra Ghat, said, “On an average 15 to 20 dead bodies are coming to the ghat daily. Now the dead are being burnt in the street due to the sinking of the ghat. There are two problems with the burning of dead bodies in the streets. First- People living near the streets are facing problems. second- The flame of a pyre burning in a narrow street seems very high. Its fumes start deteriorating health.”
Dome population of 5 thousand in Kashi, no government help
Dom Lalu Chaudhary said- More than half of our community does not even have a ration card. Filled the form, no answer.
The floods have also inflicted a serious injury on the income of the Dom society that performs the rituals. Dom Lalu Choudhary says, “Earlier people used to bring soil from every corner of the country including Bengal and Bihar. Very few people are coming because of the floods. Earlier, 4 to 5 thousand rupees were available for giving fire to 5-6 dead in a day, now they are hardly able to earn even thousand rupees in a day.
Lalu further said, “The government knows how difficult it is for us to perform last rites in floods. Despite this, we are not getting any help and the passengers who are bringing the dead bodies. In entire Kashi, the income of 5 thousand people of Dom society is related to this work, but more than half of the people do not even have ration card.
now…
Even you listened to the people associated with Dom society. Now let’s move on to the data related to the cremation grounds of Kashi…
In the end, know the meaning of the word ‘dom’.
The original meaning of ‘Dom’ is the one who performs the last rites. There are total 16 sacraments in Hinduism. Man’s life begins with the conception ceremony and ends with the cremation ceremony. Although most of the Domes consider themselves Brahmins, their real religion is cremation service.