![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/DFIWERACZNCNLPP6S7GKAZNDVU.jpg?smart=true&auth=a1b6b6e7d7210cb200739dfd0f10f015b97bc9c8c1b9a1897c91f8e614c3e699&width=400&height=225)
Doms sifting ashes next to the Ganges for gold jewellery after the cremation of the body.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/3VBONOVL5BFM7IDHEEGXTHHQJU.jpg?smart=true&auth=c21307ab063ff2eda5a50c88b2fd20cf4e67e860207ae81ab461aa2950a0b827&width=400&height=225)
Babu Lal Chaudhry, 38, left, has three sons and two daughters. He sends his children to school but is worried about their future. All photos: Taniya Dutta/ The National
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/7DTVU34IENAQRILDDZK2FYC22E.jpg?smart=true&auth=af4ff5778c359596e74614b6d712c8fd7f2d03e79895269d8a71fb08f4f07183&width=400&height=225)
Doms work from dawn to dusk, carry wooden logs, set up the pyre and burn the dead irrespective of the season and the weather. In return, they make paltry sums.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/45XZWRWM6VB7BGQMHSRFVOPOMQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=536e03700643ba40afa4e8b5595bd77469925e0e005d134313211ee9a698c46a&width=400&height=225)
Doms live an impoverished life. They live in one-room houses lined up against each other, with hardly any basic facilities.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/ZEZSAIE4VBDXPARJQIE2LS2EO4.jpg?smart=true&auth=776ab6ac531fe7bb9443a9dba9af77c4d505bbf4d61bf72d9cf53f0bcc4552ef&width=400&height=225)
One of the country’s busiest and most sacred crematoriums, at Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi. Bodies are cremated here around the clock.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/ZL7IT6FFURA7DKGBZAUERJC5EA.jpg?smart=true&auth=2471c4036d03aeac4c21916e84b5292eedb91c8894b26486b33edec7f3941e1c&width=400&height=225)
Jagdishwar Chaudhary, 35 is the Dom Raja or King of Doms, a wealthy owner of the Ghat.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/DFIWERACZNCNLPP6S7GKAZNDVU.jpg?smart=true&auth=a1b6b6e7d7210cb200739dfd0f10f015b97bc9c8c1b9a1897c91f8e614c3e699&width=400&height=225)
Doms sifting ashes next to the Ganges for gold jewellery after the cremation of the body.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/3VBONOVL5BFM7IDHEEGXTHHQJU.jpg?smart=true&auth=c21307ab063ff2eda5a50c88b2fd20cf4e67e860207ae81ab461aa2950a0b827&width=400&height=225)
Babu Lal Chaudhry, 38, left, has three sons and two daughters. He sends his children to school but is worried about their future. All photos: Taniya Dutta/ The National
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/7DTVU34IENAQRILDDZK2FYC22E.jpg?smart=true&auth=af4ff5778c359596e74614b6d712c8fd7f2d03e79895269d8a71fb08f4f07183&width=400&height=225)
Doms work from dawn to dusk, carry wooden logs, set up the pyre and burn the dead irrespective of the season and the weather. In return, they make paltry sums.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/45XZWRWM6VB7BGQMHSRFVOPOMQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=536e03700643ba40afa4e8b5595bd77469925e0e005d134313211ee9a698c46a&width=400&height=225)
Doms live an impoverished life. They live in one-room houses lined up against each other, with hardly any basic facilities.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/ZEZSAIE4VBDXPARJQIE2LS2EO4.jpg?smart=true&auth=776ab6ac531fe7bb9443a9dba9af77c4d505bbf4d61bf72d9cf53f0bcc4552ef&width=400&height=225)
One of the country’s busiest and most sacred crematoriums, at Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi. Bodies are cremated here around the clock.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/ZL7IT6FFURA7DKGBZAUERJC5EA.jpg?smart=true&auth=2471c4036d03aeac4c21916e84b5292eedb91c8894b26486b33edec7f3941e1c&width=400&height=225)
Jagdishwar Chaudhary, 35 is the Dom Raja or King of Doms, a wealthy owner of the Ghat.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/DFIWERACZNCNLPP6S7GKAZNDVU.jpg?smart=true&auth=a1b6b6e7d7210cb200739dfd0f10f015b97bc9c8c1b9a1897c91f8e614c3e699&width=400&height=225)
Doms sifting ashes next to the Ganges for gold jewellery after the cremation of the body.
Making a living from the dead: the sad plight of Varanasi's 'traditional cremators'
Working from dawn to dusk at Manikarnika Ghat on the Ganges, carrying wooden logs, setting up pyres and burning the deceased
![Taniya Dutta](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/https%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazonaws.com%2Farc-authors%2Fthenational%2Ff16b3521-2438-42ac-a914-4072ef298f1c.png?smart=true&auth=2e7bd18a9d681304782408cd2ad4662f50ed2dec6f481149b8eb1cac80d9d410&width=70&height=70)
Taniya Dutta
28 October, 2022
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