This is cremation I observed from afar on a boat for a minute before turning off the camera to show respect. Flames were all I saw. Don't worry if you would see something terrible in this photo.
The people of India view life and death as part of a continuous, interconnected cycle rather than as absolute beginnings and endings.
In Varanasi. Ganga Aarti Ceremony (which lasts about 45 minutes) and cremation take place simultaneously every evening, symbolizing the sacred Hindu cycle of life and death. 
Funeral pyres burn continuously 24 hours a day.
Cremations carry deep spiritual significance, as Hindus believe being cremated on these holy riverbanks grants the soul moksha (liberation from the cycle of rebirth).