Fire On The Ganges: Life Among the Dead in Banaras

by Radhika Iyengar

'In the land of the dead, there is life all around.'

Banaras, Uttar Pradesh. A place where life and death co-exist in the most unimaginable way. The Doms are a Dalit sub-caste in Banaras designated by tradition to perform the Hindu rite of cremation. They have ownership of the sacred fire without which, it is believed, the Hindu soul will not achieve liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. Despite this, the community is condemned to the lowest order in caste hierarchy, and its members continue to be treated as 'untouchables'.

Fire on the Ganges is the first attempt to chronicle the everyday realities of the Doms. It plunges into Banaras's historical past, while narrowing its lens to a few spirited characters from the Dom community. Through their tales of struggle and survival, loss and ambition, betrayal and love, it tells the at-times-heartbreaking, at-times-exhilarating story of a community struggling to find a place beyond that accorded to it by ancient tradition.

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'A book of humanity and intimacy, hope and resilience, Radhika Iyengar has chronicled that which is often overlooked -- the enduring power of the voice. This is oral history at its finest.'

-- AANCHAL MALHOTRA (author of Remnants of a Separation)

'Vividly told and richly detailed, Radhika Iyengar's Fire on the Ganges is an untold story that will shape our collective understanding of India.'

-- SONIA FALEIRO (author of The Good Girls)

'At once sobering and enlivening, Fire on the Ganges is a compelling account of how the Doms both contribute to, and are overlooked by, a "new India" that has lost its lustre. Radhika Iyengar makes her subject spring to life through her eye for detail and her immersion in the world she's writing of.'

-- AMIT CHAUDHURI (author of Sojourn)

'By observing their world with a keen, unflinching eye, Radhika Iyengar is able to render the lives of her subjects with compassion and insight while delivering a story that is both uplifting and heartbreaking. Fire on the Ganges is the work of a first-rate reporter and a gifted writer, whose narrative moves like the river, slow and deep, to the ancient rhythms of Indian life.'

-- DON BELT (Former Senior Editor, National Geographic Magazine)

'You might think of Manikarnika as a place for the dead. Th­is fine book is a reminder that the burning ghats are a place for the living.'

-- AMITAVA KUMAR (author of The Blue Book)

'With admirable elegance and empathy, Radhika Iyengar tells stories of a community that has not been spared caste prejudice despite its traditional "prerogative" of cremating Hindus at the most auspicious ghats along the Ganga.'

-- MANOJ MITTA (author of Caste Pride)

'A worthy illustration of show-don't-tell, Fire on the Ganges leaves you both hopeful and anxious about the possibilities of breaking through the barriers imposed by the caste system for those who are placed at its very bottom...Iyengar's work stands out for its dogged curiosity and immersive storytelling.'

-- SNIGDHA POONAM (author of Dreamers)

'With the narrative drive of a novel, this is a non-fiction book that illuminates a profession, a tradition and a society. An absolutely fascinating read!'

-- TABISH KHAIR (author of The Body by the Shore)

‘Deeply alarming and yet never alarmist, Radhika Iyengar’s Fire on the Ganges is essential reading—wise, sensitive and unsettling.’

-- DAVID HAJDU (author of A Revolution in Three Acts)

'Deeply-reported, thoroughly-researched, with writing that leaves your skin cold, Fire on the Ganges is a book about the hum of life arranged around death.'

-- MANSI CHOKSI (author of The Newlyweds)

Genres: Nonfiction, India

352 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 29, 2023

About the author

Radhika Iyengar is an award-winning journalist with a Master's degree in Journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, New York. In 2020, she was awarded the Charles Wallace India Trust fellowship at University of Kent, UK. She won the Red Ink award for Excellence in Indian Journalism (2018), was a writer-in-residence at Sangam House (2019), and a recipient of the Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellowship (2016-2017).

Reviews

[Rakhi Dalal · Rating 5 out of 5]

India is the land of its people. Contrary to what contemporary majoritarian politics would have us believe, this country still belongs to its ordinary citizens. Common people living their everyday routines just in the hope of making their ends meet. Some of these people largely remain invisible in the societal structure. People belonging to marginalised communities more so.

One such community that has lived in the famous city of Banaras for centuries, albeit on the fringes of society, is the Dom community. Through her book, Radhika Iyenger takes her reader onto an exploration of their lives. A community which earns its living by lighting the pyre of those dead, of those making a final stop before journeying onto the other side.

A community whose members take pride in the idea that their hands offer the bridge without which the dead cannot hope for mukti.

A community placed on lower rungs in caste hierarchy, socially marginalised and facing discrimination and hostility in its everyday life. A community whose people have to work harder to earn a single meal.

And yet, this book is also an exploration of the desires and hopes of the same people. We the readers, are not only offered a view of their daily struggles but also of the determination, with which some of the people move forward to make a better living, to cast aside the shackles of discrimination imposed by the society so that their offspring may have a better chance at life than they were born into.

Certain images that the writer has captured in this book haunted me for days after reading. Of little children from the community, stealing coverings of the corpses while they burn so that they could sell them for a meagre sum in order to eat one meal, countless bodies lighted by the doms during Covid outbreak, one after one, while they stood exhausted and tired.

Radhika writes with compassion. When she wonders about how it must feel like to a member of community who lights pyres and is exposed continually to the sight and stench in the process, she makes her reader jolt in shock too. As she moves through the streets and houses of those she interviews, she is aware of her own privilege and in her writing makes sure that her own voice doesn’t subdue the voices she records. Her book brings to a reader an empathetic understanding of the complexities of a way of living that usually go unnoticed in a conventional society.

A must read for those who wish to grasp the realities of the prevalent system of our society which oppresses a people through its injustices, discrimination and prejudices and make their everyday lives still harder.

[Nandini · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I am so glad I decided to read this book. It is eye-opening, though I'm sure that the lives the Doms, and the Dalits live are terrifyingly difficult. The book is surprisingly very easy to read, the words just flow in and you don't realise when a chapter ends. The author has done an impeccable job in storytelling and giving the readers a lens into the lives of the Dom Basti somewhere really far away, sitting in your room.

Some details could be spared, but I believe that it would take away the nuances of the locals. Reading about Lakshaya and Komal, Bhola and Aakash felt like a journey close to heart. My heart goes out to Dolly, so strong and not so naive anymore. She is much more than what Sekond Lal ( would love to know how to exactly pronounce it) could be.

All in all, don't expect an academic thesis through this. It's a retelling of their lives, up and close.


Edit: added more details.

[Rusha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't expect a book on the life on Manikarnika ghat to have such a tender lover story and an intriguing murder

[Divya Pal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Begins on a promising note with echoes of Cyrus Mistry's Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer. But then runs out of steam and appears as if she has just added some garnishing to her meticulously researched PhD dissertation.
Some searingly raw images

Akash picks up a bamboo stick and stabs the bone into subservience. The corpse encased with the hand-built structure of wood and straw shifts limply. Flakes of ash, disturbed by his nudge, take flight. They sting his eyes and settle on his lips. Akash cough and turns away to spit. His ashy saliva land on the ground. Splat. The afternoon suns burns his back, His mahogany skin is covered in ant-sized heat boils.

Akash has seen ‘all sorts of bodies – deformed, mutilated, broken’: corpses with smashed skulls, severed limbs, gunshot wounds, knife torn torsos with guts spilling out. He has cremated those who died by suicide, either by hanging or self-immolation.

The personal accounts of the members from the Dom community tend to wander into needless details. A more succinct narrative could have been more readable.

[Kiran Bhat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fire On The Ganges is a compelling piece of narrative about the life of those who belong to the Dom caste of Banares. Iyengar delves into the lives of several people who reside in Banares and are trying to move upwards in society despite the pressure on them both from people inside and outside of their community to remain stagnant. Iyengar covers people who are accepting love marriages despite the consequences, finding a space for themselves in an increasingly urbanising India, and who are living life on their terms. Like a well trained journalist, Iyengar employs a style that is very direct and to the point, putting emphasis first and foremost on the stories she is trying to convey.

I recommend Fire On The Ganges to anyone who is curious about the lives of people of different backgrounds in India, and how globalisation is both changing their life, and keeping it very much the same.

[kvazimodla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I visited India this year, finally, after long years of Taj Mahal biding time on my bucket list. On that itinerary, my most anticipated places were, ok, Taj, and Varanasi.
I loved Varanasi! Dived right into the chaos, as much as limited time and position of a tourist allowed. It was - to me - good chaos, and nothing was as wild as the internet warned about. Walked the ghats and the labyrinth of streets behind them. Saw the cremations, respectfully. Ate street food :)
This was a book bought at the airport on leaving Varanasi, to keep the memory of a unique place and the ways in which it expanded my mind and soul ❤️
Both Varanasi and this book repeatedly broke my heart, and elevated it as well, filling it with hope ♥️

[Mitra Samal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long post alert as a book like this deserves attention.
 
‘In the land of the dead, there is life all around’.
 
‘Fire on the Ganges’ explores the life of Doms, a Dalit sub-caste who perform the last Hindu rites of cremation in the ghats of Banaras. It is said that they have ownership of the sacred fire without which the soul cannot attain moksha (liberation from the cycle of life and death).
 
Yet, this community is the most oppressed and treated as ‘untouchables’. Even some upper caste people believe they should take a bath if a Dom’s shadow falls on them. Men don’t get good jobs in this community because of their caste and are forced to work on the ghats, which is a very tedious labour of burning corpses all night. Few men like Bhola who are educated and do find a job, having worked hard against heavy odds, tend to keep their identity a secret. They don’t want to be ridiculed or looked down upon because of their background, which often happens when others find out who they are.
 
Women in this community are seldom allowed to work. Their job is to do household chores and rear the large number of kids they have. They can’t go anywhere alone unless accompanied by a man. Children are often forced to drop out of school to work in the ghats and feed their family. There’s domestic violence, poverty, and hunger which the author gives an account of in this book. She also follows the life of a widow, Dolly who starts a kirana store of her own to meet the ends and faces the taunts of people. To deal in a world of brutes you have to be a brute too and that’s how Dolly gets her shrewdness.
 
There’s speculations, superstitions, and rumours, but things have gradually begun to change. The author, Radhika mentions in the ‘Afterword’ how the community is starting to understand the importance of education and it’s rare but now girls are also getting educated. Intercaste marriages are no longer a dream. More women are looking forward to starting a business of their own rather than being stuck in unhappy marriages. Government projects have made improvements. Banaras has now seen many visitors like politicians and actors. Maybe there is some hope brewing somewhere on the horizon.
 

[Ashish Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Radhika has presented excellent writing albiet every character and thier characterisation beautifully illustrated .The details of each event are also beautifully written. Characters you can feel in the words which waddle for a while to the reader‘s mind. It will also be easy to understand the political and social impact in the lives of the people living in Manikarnika Ghat,Be it Modi's visit to Banaras or the construction of Vishwanath Corridor or the devastation caused by Covid.

The good thing about this book is that you will see how Dom caste not only fighting with the society even themselves as well, society used to curse them,abuse them but eventually they are precious for the society.

I spent months at Manikarnika Ghat during a film shoot in 2018. The peace which i felt over there were poignant, i imbibed fire and smoke for life time. that tranquality is a part of my life. This book ushered me over there,love to walk in that alley,love to talk with the shopkeepers. It gobsmacked while you think life and death both are coexisting here in ghats.

There are numerous characters and their stories which take you up there in their life. through this scribble you get to know another banaras which you haven't got yet in the films or elsewhere. Dive into this manikarnika ghat i can assure you will be able to washed away your sins.

Read it as soon as possible…
Thank you @radhika 🙏🏻💐

[David - marigold_bookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fire on the Ganges is a non-fictional account of the lives of the Dom community from the Dalit caste who work the cremation grounds on the ghats, riverside steps, on the bank of the river Ganges as it flows through the ancient city of Varanassi (also Banaras, Benares, or Kashi), the adults building and tending to the funeral pyres, with youngsters scavenging for wood, cloths or leftovers from jewelry.

I bought the book because I became spellbound and fascinated by Varanassi, the oldest inhabited city in the world, and one of the most important religious centres, when I visited, just when the Covid pandemic was beginning. I feel sure that anyone who has been there themselves, and witnessed the sheer intensity of the place, breathed the spiritual ether that seems to permeate the city through its ghats and alleyways, would enjoy this work.

The author, journalist @radhika_iy, narrates the daily tribulations of a group of men, women and youngsters who live within the Dom community next to Manikarnika Ghat. The book highlights how the prejudices and injustices of the caste system are still very much prevalent, employed here to down tread all members of the community and to erect obstacles to their progression. But there are some happy outcomes to some of the stories that weave themselves through the book, and they are captured wonderfully by the writer.

I would recommend the book to anyone who has an interest in Varanassi, and indeed in Indian culture more generally.

[Dr. Prachi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fire in Ganges is an intriguing read that will stimulate our understanding of India.
Iyengar after doing extensive research on untouchability in India, writes about Dalits. Creating an adaptable platform for the exemplary individuals genuine humanity to be expressed. And these intricate facts and her detailing add dimension to the lives of her subjects.

The read raises gravely concerning topics, which are both, extremely unsettling and chilling.
The way society views Dom- as they name it, has not changed and they are still subjected to inhumane captivity, abuse, discrimination, enslavement, and largely ignored. Even though mental health has become a global topic of discussion, we have excluded a specific demographic group from its perks. Placing them at the bottom of the social spectrum, they bear an even greater danger of being abused and exploited because of the stigma associated with "untouchability."
That's our irony!

As you read this, some of them are grappling with the horror and misery of being caste outcasts in a system of castes.
Sad but true.

[Animesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have watched the movie "Masaan" multiple times, and each time the scenes around the ghat hold me equally steadfast because I always felt I am missing some nuances in the scene oe in the dialogue. This work just makes me appreciate more the transformation of Vicky Kaushal's character Deepak in the movie.

An excellent piece of indian journalism and I think I will watch the movie yet again.. to admire it more with the gained context of and around the Dom community.

[Shantanu Patnaik · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories of the Doms - who tend to the corpses and lit the funeral pyres in Varanasi, feel like fiction in a novel rather than the painful truth of 21st Century India. Nothing is more frightening than the truth. Really enjoyed the storytelling and the characters with their hope and resilience

[Arjun Rajkumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compelling piece of work on the life of the Dom community in Benares! Runs out of steam in the last third of the book, could have been edited more tightly.

[Srijita Sarkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fresh, fast-paced narrative with copious annotations, Iyengar's book offers a first row view into the lives of the Doms through a variety of view points.

I loved how Iyengar remained an active yet empathic observer while maintaining the discretion and impartiality of a researcher.

Even though the book was an accidental airport find, I am glad I picked it up and read it completely.

[Nidhi Srivastava · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone growing up in India has experienced casteism in one form or another. We divided the country into caste strata - upper and lower caste. People were defined by their occupation, as rightly quoted by the author of this book. The book has highlighted the lives of the Doms, a Dalit sub-caste in Banaras who are designated by tradition to perform the Hindu rite of cremation. When I sit to write the book review, I am at a loss of words here. It is astonishing to realize that we live in a country where lower castes are oppressed and shunned at every level. Children quit schools due to casteism. Here, the author has consolidated emotions, misery, and the zeal of the next-generation of the Doms to change the ordeal of their lives.

Benaras or Kashi is one of the oldest living cities in the world. Hundreds of pilgrims throng the city in search of enlightenment. Yet, it is most famous for its Manikarnika ghat, where cremation is conducted. As the author quotes - "Death, in most places, is feared. Here, it is celebrated." Mourning families bring their loved ones to Benaras to be cremated, to achieve moksha. At Manikarnika ghat, it is said that Lord Shiva whispers the taraka mantra, the ferryboat mantra, into the ears of the dead, before escorting their souls to heaven. As I read these lines, it gave me goosebumps. A few years back, I lost a loved one and she attained moksha at the sacred ghat of Manikarnika. The image never left my sight as I continued reading this book.

Dom community has been the most oppressed and treated as ‘untouchables’. Men don’t get good or 'respectable' jobs in this community, due to their caste and are forced to work on the ghats, which is a very tedious labor of burning corpses. Few men like Bhola tend to fight their destiny. Bhola wanted to escape the life of Ghats and build his own world trying harder to hide his identity. We do live in a society where anyone's progress can be tagged to their caste reservations.

The book draws attention to the women of the Dom community, who are beaten by their husbands, and treated as childbearing machines. The community was oppressed and hence, it continued to control its women. It's heartbreaking to live in a progressive society, where a section of the community still feels threatened by their own women. "Nobody cares if the girl wants to study... If she is educated, they believe she will fall in love with any man and run off."

The book deserves a read by everyone across the world to learn that it wasn't a choice to be a cremator at the burning ghat. Men who work at the ghats are haunted by the spirits and burning corpses. They drown themselves in copious amounts of alcohol and other drugs. While the world has progressed to discuss mental health, we did outcast a section of all the benefits. We didn't treat the community with the respect they deserved. The book speaks volumes about a section of Benaras that lived in the dark and burned pyres all their lives to earn a livelihood.

[Asha Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published on www.missbookthief.com

Background
The importance of Banaras and its famous Manikarnika ghat for soul’s salvation, is not unknown in Hinduism. It is believed since times immemorial that when a Hindu is cremated at the Manikarnika, the soul attains moksh and for this reason thousands of people travel to Banaras for the final rites of their deceased family members. My own great grandmother’s dying wish was to be cremated at Manikarnika and men of the family including my father flew to Banaras once she passed away so her last wish was granted.

Radhika Iyengar’s ‘Fire on the Ganges: Life Among the Dead in Banaras’ provides a different lens to view the sacred city of Varanasi (formerly Banaras) through it’s moksh-serving fame of the Manikarnika ghat – the biggest cremation ground in the world. It delves into the unseen underbelly, exploring the lives of the Doms, a Dalit sub-caste in Banaras designated by tradition to perform the Hindu rite of cremation. They have ownership of the sacred fire without which, it is believed, the Hindu soul will not achieve liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. Despite this, the community is condemned to the lowest order in the caste hierarchy, and its members continue to be treated as ‘untouchables’. Through seven years of dedicated research and immersion, Iyengar sheds light on their crucial yet ostracized role as the cremators of the dead on the Manikarnika Ghat, the burning grounds along the Ganges.

Plot
‘Fire on the Ganges’ captures the stories of the people of the Dom community dissecting their personal lives from their life as corpse burners. These real-life experiences, personal anecdotes, and first-hand perspectives build the book and highlights what goes unseen but more importantly, ‘normalised’ in the Hindu tradition. We come across some strong people like Dolly who is a young widow and the only woman entrepreneur in the community who runs a shop to support herself or other people like Bhola who hide their identity from the world to escape their ‘destiny’.

Meanwhile other men, who’re bound to the pyre-burning duties, drown themselves in copious amounts of alcohol and other drugs in order to carry out the ardous and harrowing ‘duty’ of burning corpses, every living minute of their lives. The book chronicles their daily struggles, the constant threat of exploitation, and the yearning for a life beyond the ghats. Iyengar doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities – the pollution, the poverty, and the brutal caste system that denies Doms basic rights and respect. Book also covers the lives of youngsters in the Dom community who strive to earn a penny as shroud-pickers, the ash-sifters who dive into the Ganges to look for cremation leftovers, the maaliks who preside over the cremation processes, the wood-sellers, etc. peeling the intricate layers dense with caste and gender inequalities.

Characters
Apart from the people of the Dom community, Varanasi itself becomes a character in this book. It’s magnificent yet modest presence makes it a prominent character throughout the book. The book also sheds light on the Dom community which comprises of the Chaudhary’s. We dive right into the lives of Dolly, Bhola, Aakash, Mohan Shortcut, Komal, Sekond Lal, Lakshya, and many others from the community. The Dom men earn their daily bread burning corpses while the young boys like Aakash, Bhola, are all shroud-pickers and live quite a competitive life, scavenging and selling the shrouds discarded post the cremation of the bodies that arrive at the Manikarnika Ghat.

The book lays special emphasis on the lives of the Chaudhary women who stay behind and fend for the family, but when Dolly’s husband passes away in an accident, she has to rise up the fending role and become an earner. She thus, starts a small business right at home selling regular utilities. Even so, women don’t cross the household barriers in the Dom community to go earn a living and thus, Dolly has to face society’s backlash for being the bold woman that she becomes. All the characters live at Chand Ghat, the locality in the exteriors of Banaras, the home to the Doms. As the narrative progresses, one by one, their stories of grit, torture, toil, and harsh obligations unfold. There are clear demarcations of deeds men and women can carry out and each and everyone abide by it. Seldom, spirited souls like Bhola and Komal are born for whom education, identity, and freedom mean a lot more than their lives in the Dom community; people looking for an escape from the harsh realities of their life as Doms.

Settings
While Manikarnika ghat takes the centre stage, Banaras with its sacred Ganges and historic temples forms the backdrop. We tour through the ancient cities alleys, its history, the associated mythology and deities, its people, the local language and culture, age-old beliefs and traditions, and these leave an indelible mark on the reader’s mind. Chand Ghat, the home of the Doms, is another pivotal setting where the personal sagas unfold. Written succinctly, the author manages to create a thousand pictures through words unveiling the canvas that this oldest city in the world is famous for. While some of the details make the skin crawl, one cannot deny the fact that the book arouses a urge to visit the city for real. Moreover, her powerful and vivid imagery brings the burning ghats of Manikarnika alive, immersing one in the cultural richness of Varanasi, flowing through the undercurrents of the book.

Writing and Research
Iyengar’s research and interviews bring to light the caste dynamics that continue to be entrenched within the Banarasi society. Doms can’t escape the stench of death they carry home every day because their caste identity hinders them from approaching ‘respectable’ jobs. Iyengar also takes the readers to the women of the Dom community, who are marginalised owing to their gender. The oppressed community further oppresses its women. It draws attention to the daily physical and mental abuse they bear at the hands of their husband apart from upper-caste men. “Nobody cares if the girl wants to study… If she is educated, they believe she will fall in love with any man and run off“, many such beliefs deep-rooted in this community come to the fore and makes one wonder if this is really plausible in the 21st century India.

Copious annotations and the research resources lend the writing the credibility it demands. Capturing landmark events such as the Vishwanath Corridor Project, the Covid pandemic, Namami Gange, and a plethora of other milestones, gives the reader a thorough understanding of the timeline and the transitions that occurred in the contemporary landscape of Varanasi thus. Iyengar remains an active yet empathic observer while maintaining the discretion and impartiality of a researcher quite impeccably.

Final Verdict
‘Fire on the Ganges’ is a powerfully and visually thought-provoking book. It compels us to confront the uncomfortable realities of caste and gender discrimination, poverty, denial of basic rights and the freedom to thrive willfully, that prevail in contemporary India even today. This is not a book that offers easy answers, but it is an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the hidden complexities of the stratified Indian society and the institutionalised discriminatory caste system wherein the lower castes are even denied to ‘aspire’. It is a book that challenges the prejudices and stereotypes that are widely carried out by the privileged of the society, and attempts to strip others of even their basic rights. As Radhika’s debut novel, the book is successful in delivering its core message one that quite subtly questions: Will things ever change for those suffering injustice such as the revered yet wronged Dom community of Banaras?

[Ganesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fire On The Ganges is one of those books that grips you by the collar from the first chapter and refuses to let you look away. When I began reading it, I expected a visceral portrait of Varanasi rich with its labyrinthine alleys, its burning ghats, its coexistence of life and death. The opening chapters seemed to promise exactly that: an unflinching look into the entrails of the city and the people who live in its shadows.

But Radhika Iyengar quickly steers the narrative into deeper, more uncomfortable terrain. What begins as a city portrait transforms into a devastating examination of caste, patriarchy, poverty, and the suffocating social contracts that tighten around families like nooses.

The shift from lyrical storytelling to a more academic, statistics-heavy tone is unexpected, but in hindsight, perhaps necessary. The scale of injustice cannot always be captured through character arcs alone; sometimes, the horror lies in numbers.

Through the intertwined lives of the Doms (the corpse bearers who have tended to Varanasi’s burning pyres for generations) the book lays bare a truth I had never fully confronted: for the people who keep the city “holy”, Varanasi is anything but sacred. It is a furnace in which their childhoods, freedoms, and futures are quietly incinerated. Especially more gravely for women.

The story of Dolly stayed with me long after I finished the book. A widow cast aside by in-laws, tolerated by her family, and sustained only by her brother Lakshaya’s kindness, she embodies the intersection of caste and gender violence.

Radhika documents the ways in which women are systematically reduced, controlled, and tethered to their familial homes through domestic drudgery, pregnancies, and rigid patriarchal expectations. The details are excruciating and painfully familiar to anyone who has grown up observing these systems play out in everyday life.

Other vignettes are equally haunting.

Dulna scavenging for scraps of gold or silver from human ash just to afford a cup of tea.

Children growing up beside pyres, their playfields littered with burnt wood and half-cremated remains.

Men burn corpses as their inherited dharma without ever questioning the bondage because centuries of caste indoctrination have convinced them this is their place, their destiny, their pride.

Radhika also takes aim at the hypocrisies embedded in religious traditions. The obsession with dying in Varanasi feels unreasonably cruel when juxtaposed with the plight of those who must handle the dead. And the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor project, far from being a symbol of progress, stands in the book as a reminder of how development can erase communities rather than uplift them.

The chapters on Covid are among the hardest to read. Even in the middle of a global disaster, casteism refused to loosen its grip. Politics trumped humanity. The same people who manage the city’s dead were treated as invisible, disposable, and yet indispensable.

By the time I turned the last page, I found myself questioning my own memories of Varanasi. I have been there once, though I never visited the burning ghats. After reading Fire On The Ganges, I don’t think I ever want to. The city I had imagined as spiritual now feels like a living, breathing, burning hell for those trapped in its caste hierarchies.

More than anything, the book left me with a bitter question: how can a place be called holy when it systematically destroys the very people who sustain its rituals?

Fire on the Ganges is not an easy read, and at times it veers into academic territory. But it is important, unflinching, and deeply human. It forces you to stare at the rot that polite society prefers to hide. And it reveals how caste, patriarchy, and poverty are not relics of the past but are very much alive, mutating, and suffocating entire communities even today.

This is a book I won’t forget anytime soon.

[Akankshya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Through stories of the Dom community in the near mythical city of Banaras, Fire On The Ganges offers us a window into the lives of those who make their living among the dead.

We see people fiercely negotiate their subjectivities embedded within multiple intersecting social hierarchies daily. Radhika Iyengar has done a beautiful job at showing readers the complexities of caste, class & gender codes that still fiercely grip our lives. By rendering the stories of her heroes in narrative form, she manages to immerse us in their experience, rooting for their victories, yearning for their dreams & sharing their loss.

I was deeply moved by the story of Dolly - a widow raising her 5 children by herself via opening a small store of her own. Her life seems to be one of many losses - of freedom, of grief, of abandonment. In the face of it all, she holds fast with tenacity to survive & raise her kids. She is supposed to be the first woman in the Dom community of Banaras to work - opening the possibilities of different dreams for her fellow Dom sisters. Her story fills one with deep hope for the human spirit of perseverance; it also reminds me how much we as a society need to do in order to break the shackles that stop us from dreaming. Her resilience should be a reminder to us of the possibilities of a better world should we aim create webs of care where people like Dolly are nurtured to thrive rather than fighting to survive.

Through these accounts, the book also pushes our understanding of caste beyond the obvious practice of untouchability or endogamy. We are offered the strange site of how the web of caste lives among the dead.

The almost macabre business of funeral rituals perpetuated by religious Hindu codes that have turned the very concept of the departed into a transactional exercise of pyres, flowers & corpse burners - ensuring the latter (the Doms) are forever locked in this exercise by the accident of birth.

It was a horrifying yet necessary history to see how the pandemic came to etch the fates of many in the community; a strange social cocktail of overwork, danger, profit, superstition & survival. This defining moment of our century - a pandemic comparable to the Spanish Influenza of the 1920s - pierces through the lives of the Dom people to remind us just how deadly broken state institutions & social hierarchies are to the coming disasters of a polycrisis we are facing. I wonder if the depleting oxygen cylinders & overflowing dead in the Ganges will move the country to overhaul its systems health & economy or will the pandemic turn into another dark period of nostalgia where the dangerous work of such communities continues to be forgotten.


Interspersed as these insights are with the lived experience of its complex characters, it's a great way for beginners to educate themselves about the persistence of caste in India & learn about the layered nature of inequality that dominates some of our most revered & sacred historical sites.

This book has a necessary place in the much needed history of contemporary India & its diverse communities that make our lives - & death - meaningful.

[Rajeev Patel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The smell of dead bodies and clouds of black smoke fill the air around these cremation grounds.
A few years ago, we used to provide the firewood and other materials needed for the cremation process. But now, people buy these materials from dealers and shops near the cremation grounds, and our job is to only provide the agni or the fire.

- Devi (one of the cremation directors from Harishchandra Ghat, Banaras).

Such is the life of Doms.
Let us understand what are Doms & what the book is about -

1) The Doms are a Dalit sub-caste in Banaras designated by tradition to perform the Hindu rite of cremation. They have ownership of the sacred fire without which, it is believed, the Hindu soul will not achieve liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth.

2) The book gives the excellent view of what life looks like on the other side of the spectrum of privilege. The community is condemned to the lowest order in caste hierarchy, and its members continue to be treated as 'untouchables'.

3) It showcases the life of a few members of the Dom community between 2015 to 2023 and takes you deep into casteism's impact on the community's everyday lives, socioeconomic struggles and mindset of other people's in the society.

Reference -

1) The Dom community is better potrayed in the movie "Masaan" where Vicky Kaushal plays exactly the same role of a family who are Doms.

Language & Narration -

1) The language is simple and easy to understand.

2) The narration is crisp & clear with the author clear in the mind what she wants to convey.

3) The Glossary & Notes at the last helps to relate & understand better.

4) The use of hinglish in betweens also adds as an advantage.

The book is definitely recommended to ones who don't know anything about the other side of Banaras & to the ones who lives in UP or Banaras for their readibility.

[Upasana Ratri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn't just a story; it reveals the tough reality of tradition's impact on people. We're taken into the lives of the Doms, who cremate the dead in Varanasi. Despite their struggles, we see their strength, hope for a better life, and their efforts for education and respect. It's not just a travel tale; it urges us to face caste issues and rethink our prejudices.

🍁The narrative of Lakshay and Komal, alongside Bhola's aspiration for education to break free from the traditional occupation of cremating bodies, is truly inspiring. Dolly's courageous decision to start a small business after becoming a widow not only showcases her boldness but also sets a precedent for women in her community. Her initiative opens doors for other women, empowering them to pursue their own aspirations and break free from traditional roles. The acceptance of Lakshya and Komal's marriage by Komal's Uncle signifies a significant shift away from caste-based discrimination. This demonstrates a positive change towards inclusivity and acceptance within their community, setting a hopeful example for breaking down barriers and embracing love and equality.

🍁Iyengar tells real-life stories of the Doms, showcasing their daily struggles with poverty, discrimination, and societal neglect. Her writing is both beautiful and gripping, making you feel like you're right there with them, experiencing the sights, sounds, and even smells of the ghats. It definitely shows the extensive research and interviews she conducted. This lends authenticity to the narratives, making them resonate with readers on a profound level.

It may not be comfortable reading, but it's necessary.
Step beyond the veil of tourism and delve into the underbelly of Varanasi.

[Rahul Verma · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Fire on the Ganges" by Radhika Iyengar is a deeply impactful and meticulously researched work that offers a rare and essential glimpse into the lives of the Dom community in Varanasi. Here's a breakdown of my review:
* A powerful portrayal:
* Iyengar's work transcends typical socio-cultural exploration. It delves into the human experience, exploring themes of life, death, and the persistent impact of the caste system.
* The book provides a vivid and often unsettling portrayal of the realities faced by the Dom community, who are traditionally responsible for cremating bodies on the ghats of the Ganges.
* Insightful and empathetic:
* The author's approach is both insightful and empathetic, allowing readers to connect with the individuals whose stories she shares.
* Iyengar's dedication to her research is evident, and she presents a nuanced and balanced perspective.
* Illuminating the unseen:
* "Fire on the Ganges" sheds light on a community and a profession that are often overlooked or misunderstood.
* It highlights the resilience and resourcefulness of the Doms, as well as the challenges they face in a society deeply entrenched in caste-based discrimination.
* A must-read:
* This book is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of Indian society and the enduring legacy of the caste system.
* It helps to understand the real lives of people that live within a culture that many people have seen from a tourist perspective.
In essence, "Fire on the Ganges" is a compelling and thought-provoking book that leaves a lasting impression. It is a very well written book, and I would highly recomend it.

[Abhimanyu Lodha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel—along with The Many Lives of Syeda X— should be made a mandatory reading in our education system. Why? Because we need an education that does more than just sprinkle facts; we need one that forces us to confront our unchecked privilege as we live in our 24/7 conditioned environments - air or otherwise.

Researched and written over seven years, Fire on the Ganges is an unflinching, immersive exploration of what it means to pick shreds of life from the reality of death. Through the lens of the Dom community, historically responsible for cremating the dead at the ghats, Iyengar constructs a narrative that is at once intimate, unsettling, thought-provoking, and profoundly humbling. It is relentlessly bleak, emotionally exhausting, and exactly as it should be.

Iyengar’s fluid yet functional prose ensures that her subjects take center stage, amplifying the voices of those who have been silenced for generations. The book unfolds in a tragically beautiful way, woven together through lived experiences, oral histories, and meticulous, on-the-ground research.

Only minor gripe—the last few chapters delve into an unsolved murder mystery, which feels like a slight digression from the book’s core themes.

Would I recommend it?

✅ A Thunderous Yes – Read it to truly grasp the extent of our unchecked privilege and to question the choices we make with this entitled life.
❎ No – If you think delulu is the solulu.

[stardustreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was amazing. i knew very little about banaras, only the basics of what i had learnt in a religious study class, but the lives of those who burnt the dead, the struggles they have faced, and the societal opression that they're constantly resisting against was completely unknown to me. the caste system is brutal, it discriminates, it spits, and it tortures the lives of those deemed unworthy. women, especially dom caste women, are forced to live lives in which their value is constantly underestimated, where men hit or manipulate them at any notice. Iyengar does a good job of remaining neutral in her reporting of this. she simply gives the facts of life in india and allows the reader see the beauty and pain. for one, the religious devotion that Hindu people have to their living, their dead, and their gods is commendable. faith is obvious throughout this book and throughout these people's lives. secondly, every person who works on the granges, everyone who is a dalit and burns dead bodies, are some of the most brave, noble, and hard working people. iyengar has done a fantastic job of stripping the stigma and labels society has given them, allowing us to look into their lives. you immediately become attached to them, tasting and dreaming of their ambitions like they are your own. you want happiness, peace, wealth, and respect for all of them. probably one of my most informative reads this year.

[Maryann Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolutely fantastic book! Easily one of the best non-fiction I’ve read so far this year.

Fire on the Ganges by Radhika Iyengar is about the Doms, a small community of corpse burners in Banaras. The Doms are a Dalit sub-caste and have ownership of the sacred fire, without which it is believed the Hindu soul will not attain Moksha, or salvation.

Iyengar follows the lives of some very spirited members of the community and gives us a glimpse of the gruelling lives they lead-struggling with their punishing jobs at Manikarnika Ghat, braving the elements with no protective gear, burning corpse after corpse for a pittance, all the while struggling with hunger, poverty, and caste based discrimination. They also share with her their dreams, fears and aspirations, and how some of them do not wish to work at the masaan (cremation ground) and instead find dignified employment in other cities away from their crowded bastis in Banaras.

A compelling piece of narrative non-fiction, the book reads smoothly almost like fiction, and I was finding it hard to put down. This is not an easy book to read, but an important one, a necessary one, a book that will jolt you out of your privilege, and give you a front row view of how the poorer, and disadvantaged communities of India live. I highly recommend reading it.

[Aditi Mehta · Rating 2 out of 5]

'Fire on the Ganges' by Radhika Iyengar tell us the story of community who are engaged in ancestoral occupation of funeral attendents called as Dom. I have visited Banaras four times but never heard about this community and therefore I am glad to pick this book and develop a new lens towards Banaras. As it's said, 'all land is Banaras and all water is Ganges'. Banaras the city established by God Shiv himself is very auspicious as it completes the circle of life. Hindus consider performing the last rites of their loved ones in Banaras on the bank of river Ganga as they believe it's a gateway to moksha. It's believed that Dom people are given a boon by God Shiva that if the deceased is cremated by Dom's sacred fire they will achieve moksha.
Iyengar tells the stories of Dom's through many characters and we get to know about those characters, their struggles and how they conquer their situation for a better life. But many times all these descriptions feel needless.
Everyday routine of Dom's people revolves around death and funeral processes. But at times every day life of Dom people especially women feel no different than any other communities who are considered low in the caste system hierarchy. A lot of time the book feels like a thesis with its review of literature which we see a lot and sometimes unnecessary.

[Anirudh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has shook me to the core.

Having read this book right after I'm back from Varanasi, I guess i was able to connect and quickly reflect on some things and relate to few.

The book focuses primarily on the Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi—home to the eternal flame that burns continuously in this ancient city. This sacred site handles cremations for both local residents and those whose bodies have been transported from across India for their final rituals.

But beyond the rituals themselves, the book delves deeply into the lives of the people who keep this place alive—people whose livelihoods begin where others' lives end.

Another crucial aspect the book explores is how outsiders treat the workers of Manikarnika Ghat, and how even today, issues like caste discrimination, patriarchy, and the oppression of women persist in this sacred city. Also even today how a women no matter which caste she belongs(Higher or lower), is still confined to kitchen. Her words are not valued, she's just for making babies, looking after in-laws, and looking after them.

A powerful and worthy portrayal of the burning ghats—this is a must-read.

[Reem Khokhar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a compelling read and an eye-opener for me. While many are aware of continued caste related discrimination and injustices in India, to read Radhika’s Iyengar’s illuminating book on the Dalit sub-caste of Doms who perform the ritual Hindu cremation at the sacred ghats of Benares, is to get a vivid glimpse into the challenging, exhausting, and often inhumane work they which no one else will. The author’s eight years of painstaking research and speaking with various members of the community is provided in rich and heartbreaking detail, the “characters” and their struggles, efforts to make a better life for themselves amid caste discrimination and pressures from within their own community to not overstep their place and calling in society, their triumphs amid much adversity, and their need to be seen as heard as people like anyone else, not defined by their caste and occupation. This is a wonderful debut for Radhika Iyengar and I hope to read some more of her powerful writing in the years to come.

[Mihaela Gligor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never been to Varanasi, or Banaras, as they call it. There was always something that stopped me. But I was fascinated by the stories of the oldest city in the world, a place where life and death coexist.
This beautifully written volume made me wonder... Maybe next time I will get to see Varanasi, or Banaras.
Radhika Iyengar's book is so dense and so personal. She doesn't write about general things, but about the people she met, and thus their story is transformed into her own. She sees insecurities, fears, and tears of her characters and she understands their world, the limitations and the rituals. Being a woman who writes about "life among the dead in Banaras" is pretty brave, but Radhika is more than brave. She's fearless, not only in spirit, but also in writing.
I still have a few chapters, but this book is absolutely marvelous! If you are in India, just grab it! It might be a wonderful surprise and it might break some barriers. After all, one way or another, we all end our journey in the land of the dead. Until then, life is all around, and we should cherish it!

[Meenal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting story about family members and friends belonging to the Dom community who perform Hindu funeral rites.

We see their lives, trials, and perseverance through an interplay of themes like women's disempowerment, patriarchy, healthcare, and financial freedom.

Benaras holds a special place in the heart of every Hindu, so no one will not enjoy or learn from this book. I look forward to reading more such Indian books and getting to know our country and practices.

It's a work of nonfiction with the names changed for privacy, but it reads like fiction. The story switches gears from social commentary to a murder mystery to a realistic ending.

It's well-written, and the author holds your attention throughout. This book helped me through a reading slump. It made me finish it before starting any other book.

Towards the end, the publisher mentions why they've been in the business for 30+ years, and I agree that it's because of stories like this. Read it, discuss it with your book club, and gift it forward. It's a story worth learning about.

[Sari Echeverria · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I loved the book, there were moments when the pacing felt uneven. Some sections seemed to move too slowly, while others rushed through significant events. Despite this, the overall story was compelling enough to keep me invested.

The emotional depth of “Fire on the Ganges” is what left the most lasting impression on me. It’s a story about identity, loss, and the enduring human spirit, themes that are universally relatable. The novel made me reflect on the resilience of people in the face of unimaginable hardship and the power of love to transcend even the most challenging circumstances.

In the end, “Fire on the Ganges” is more than just a historical novel. It’s a deeply human story that touched me profoundly, making me appreciate the strength and courage of those who lived through such a tumultuous time. If you’re looking for a book that combines historical insight with emotional storytelling, I highly recommend giving this one a read.