Large numbers of people are cremated on the banks of the Ganges, so the wood vendor shown here does a brisk business. It's considered disrespectful to photograph the cremation process, so I'll just describe it.
First a family brings the deceased person's body through the city to the river, usually carrying it on a cart or on top of a car. The body is wrapped in a colorful sari, and strapped to wood poles so that it can be carried to the cremation ghats. In keeping with Hindu tradition, the men of the family shave their heads except for a small tuft in a back, which lets others know in the days and weeks ahead that there has been a death in the family.
At the cremation ghats, the family purchases wood and carefully stacks it, then they place the body on top. We saw ceremonies where they then took a final picture, the family crowded around the deceased and lifting their head while a photographer snapped the picture. Then a man (usually the oldest son) lights the fire.
They watch it burn, adding sticks or logs as fuel until there's nothing left but ashes. Buckets of water from the holy Ganges are then used to wash the ashes down into the river.
Click here for a photo of a cremation ghat in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Links to other Ganges River pages: sunrise, souvenir vendors, Hindu bathers.