Hindu Varanasi

Representations of Hindu faith in the built environment and pilgrim activit ies in the city of Varanasi, India, are explored through an analysis of the sacred geography of the place, of pilgrim travel to the city and activitie s within it, and of the act of crossing over from life to death through cre mation. The roles of reconciling what seem to be paradoxes or contradiction s and of the transcendence of geographical scale in reinforcing faith are a lso examined.