Later on we would witness many other cremations, in Varanasi and Kathmandu, but the first cremation that we saw was in Dwarka, a seaside town in the state of Gujarat. Although only a small town, Dwarka is an important Hindu pilgrimage site, and many pilgrims go there to visit the temples and bathe in the river. At the same time, Dwarka is a minor seaside resort, with an unusual lighthouse, camel rides on the beach, and tea stalls and souvenir stands on the small headland overlooking the beach. And it was on this same headland that we came across the cremation site, a patch of ground no bigger than a tennis court, sandwiched between the clifftop and some rather nondescript buildings of uncertain function. The first clue that we had that this was a cremation site
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