OMD posted this on the CD burners thread
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011203/re/people_harrison_...
Monday December 3 11:08 AM ET
Ex-Beatle's Family Due for Last Rites in India
By Kamal Kishore
VARANASI, India (Reuters) - The family of Beatle guitarist George Harrison was due to arrive in India very early on Tuesday to immerse his ashes in the sacred Ganges River, an official of the Hare Krishna movement said.
Arajit Das, an official of the Hare Krishna movement in the holy city of Varanasi in northern India, told Reuters the musician's widow, Olivia, and son, Dhani, would arrive on a chartered plane around 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday (6 p.m. EST Monday).
They would first immerse Harrison's ashes in the Ganges at Varanasi, a bustling town also known as Benares and, as one of the holiest places in Hinduism, a popular site for cremations.
His family would then take another urn to the town of Allahabad, scene of the huge Kumbh Mela Hindu festival in January and February, the official said.
There they were to immerse his ashes in the Sangam, a holy confluence where the Ganges meets the Yamuna River and the mythical Saraswati River.
Harrison, who died last week in Los Angeles after battling cancer, was a long-time devotee of the Hare Krishna movement, a Hindu sect, for which immersion of the ashes is symbolic of the soul's journey toward eternal consciousness.
``We have been asked to be ready to accompany them to the Ganges, where they will immerse the ashes, after which they also propose to go to Allahabad,'' Das said.
Harrison, 58, was cremated in a cardboard coffin hours after his death, in keeping with his Eastern faith.
Photographers and reporters crowded on Monday into Varanasi, a tourist hotbed once known for mystical splendor, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was supposed to be a private ceremony.
Varanasi has at least 80 ``ghats'' -- steps leading to the river where the devout take dips aimed at cleansing sins, make sacred offerings or cremate bodies and immerse the ashes.
Relatives normally sprinkle ashes on the river's surface before lowering the urn gently into the water.
Harrison, who believed in reincarnation, was a faithful member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement.
He spent his last moments chanting ``Hare Krishna'' with his family next to him and pictures of the Hindu gods Rama and Krishna near his bed, British newspapers said.
Through his friendships with Indian musician Ravi Shankar and guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Harrison developed an interest in Eastern culture and persuaded the Beatles to fly to India to explore mysticism.
Shankar taught Harrison to play the sitar, a 21-string instrument used in Indian classical music.
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