Manikarnika

(“Jeweled earring”) Sacred site (tirtha)
in the city of Benares on the Ganges
River in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
The site takes its name from the
Manikarnika Kund, a bathing (snana)
tank supposedly dug by the god Vishnu,
and into which fell an earring of the god
Shiva, thus sanctifying the tank by its
presence. In modern times the site is
better known for the cremation ground
at Manikarnika Ghat. In most Indian
cities the cremation ground lies at the
margin of the settlement, since its association with death makes it an inauspicious place. However, the Manikarnika
cremation ground is in the center of
Benares. Despite the normal human
419
Manikarnika
desire to ignore and to deny the reality
of death, in Benares it is paraded in
full view—not to distress or depress
people, but to make them confront this
reality. Awareness of death has traditionally been considered a great spur to
religious life. Since Benares is also one
of the Seven Sacred Cities, death
within the city also carries the hope of
ultimate liberation.