VARANASI: The city of salvation, Varanasi, attracts people seeking peace from across the world. On Tuesday, it also made a 29-year-old Italian woman perform rites for her dead baby on a Ganga ghat and seek a sense of closure.Sara came to the city to perform the last rites of her baby whom she lost in miscarriage sixth month into pregnancy last year. She was guided through the rites at Tulsi ghat by her Italian friend Shilpa and Santosh Singh , a local tourist guide.Sara is a student of Indian Architecture and also an Odissi classical dancer. She visited the city five years back in 2013 and since then she developed a liking for Varanasi.About her experiences in Varanasi, Sara said, "I am surprised how easily people embrace death in this city of Lord Shiva. I have witnessed innumerable burning pyres and watched people gather around and celebrate, which is contrary to our culture. In my country, death means end of a life. People generally do not embrace death with so much warmth and prefer staying aloof from these situations." "But here I saw just opposite. People in Varanasi not just celebrate death but they also celebrate liberation and trans migration of soul. I think this is the best place to connect with your lost ones and I am a spiritual person from within," she added.Talking about her deceased baby, she got emotional. "After this loss, I wasn't at peace and always felt that something was there that I couldn't express in front of others. This lingering feeling made me come to Varanasi and perform the last rites of the baby in traditional Indian way. For me, it is not just a ritual but another chance to connect to and remember my baby. It was the sense of closure I was missing. Today, I feel at peace." Varanasi witnesses a number of people who come here from all parts of the world to seek salvation and take up religious and traditional practices. The guide, Sanjay, said that every year around 10-12 such tourists come to Varanasi in search of peace and salvation.

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