The name of this city waiting for death is Banaras. Banaras is one of the most popular cities in India. This city in Uttar Pradesh is known as one of the holiest cities in the world to the followers of traditional religions.
Another name for this place is Kashi. According to Indian mythology, the Panchapandava princes of the Mahabharata traveled to Kashi with their cousins to be freed from sin after winning a bloody war of inheritance. Since their departure, people have been coming to this southern Indian city for hundreds of years to escape from sorrow or pain.
According to Hindu scriptures, after death, cremation on the banks of the holy river Ganga breaks the cycle of rebirth. At the same time there is liberation from sin. Cheetah fires burn day and night at Monikarnika and Harishchandra ghats in Banaras.
The stairs of the ghats of Banaras have merged into the river. Although there is a belief that the water of the Ganges will wash away sins, this water has now turned gray in human and industrial waste. When visitors and pilgrims cross the Ganges ghat by boat, they hear the praises of the family and the priests for the liberation of the souls of the dead. Hundreds of pilgrims flock here every day to see this sacred land. Smoking, sexual intercourse, eating any kind of meat, eggs, onion-garlic are forbidden here. The place where these people who want to accept death voluntarily live is called the house of salvation, not the hotel. And the process of living here is called Kashibas. These are run by various charities and businesses. Those who come to this house once leave only when they die. Various charities and businesses have set up ashrams here for men and women who come to Kashi to spend the last days of their lives (Kashi residents). The building is the oldest of these structures. Of its 117 rooms, 40 are reserved for Kashi residents.
VK Agarwal, operations manager of the ashram, said, "We have received a few tons of applications for Kashibas." But in contrast we can provide room for a very small number. However, for those who are very urgent, can afford their own expenses, have relatives to take the news and can be present at the last minute of the funeral is preferred to stay here. No one under the age of 60 is selected to stay here. ‘
He added that each of the Kashi residents has to pay around Rs 1 lakh according to their personal ability. They are given a room where they stay until death. They are not given food from the ashram, each of them has to arrange their own food.
Shivani Majumder is a woman waiting to die in Kashi. A childless widow. She came here from a place near Banaras after her husband's death four years ago. Talked to two other women Aarti Devi and Jayshree Devi who were there.
Aarti Devi, 60, who has been in the ashram for more than five years, said she was the mother of one son and two daughters. The children live in another state of India. They don't come to see him. He was saying this with a regret that everything changes when a child gets married. Sati Devi, who was here with him for about the same time, was also saying this.
Like the hundreds of women in the monastery in Banaras, these three women have been counting their days here for years. They know that at some point their life will come to an end. They will no longer be in this world shining with this light. Death is a very difficult subject, but they have to spend years in this city waiting for the last day of their lives.