India: all roads lead to Benares | France 5 | Les Routes de l'Impossible

Benares, in the north east of India, the country’s biggest holy city… Situated on the River Ganges, the supreme sacred river, few places in India are as colourful, chaotic and impregnated with spirituality than Benares… Hindus cremate their dead, but to be certain that they go directly to paradise and avoid the cycle of reincarnations, it has to be done in Benares… Every day, the most bizarre of funeral corteges converge on the city, some from great distances… Then, amidst the tumult of the crowd and the traffic, the corpse is carried on men’s backs through the streets for several kilometres to reach the banks of the Ganges… Each week, from every corner of the country, thousands of tons of wood arrive in Benares… Cremations are the principal reason… They burn up to 300 bodies per day; such a volume requires an astonishing stock of logs… The “wood road” is an enormous business that is shared about between a few local families… India is also the world’s largest producer of coal and all around Benares opencast mines abound… Once extracted, the precious mineral is taken by road to the city’s huge depots… Throughout the year, thousands of pilgrims go to Benares to bathe in the Ganges… They wash away their sins, they appeal to the gods… By train, bus, tractor and even by foot… all means of transport are good to reach your destination…