In this Friday, August 26, 2016 photo, a dead body lies in a flooded street before performing a Hindu funeral at the Harishchandra Ghat in Varanasi, India. As the mighty Ganges River overflowed its banks this past week following heavy monsoon rains, large parts of the Hindu holy town of Varanasi were submerged by floodwaters, keeping away thousands of devotees. Varanasi is a pilgrim town that Hindus visit to take a dip in the holy Ganges. Devout Hindus believe that if they are cremated on Varanasi’s ghats, or steps leading to the river, they earn immediate salvation and are freed from the cycle of birth and death. The ones most affected by the floods are those who have come to the town to cremate their loved ones. The floodwaters have submerged the popular Manikarnika ghat and several others, forcing local officials to appeal to people not to bring their dead for a traditional cremation in Varanasi. On Friday, some funeral pyres were lit on the roofs of the houses located near the ghats because lower areas were under water. Groups of people carrying the bodies of their relatives thronged the single stretch of the river where funerals were still being held as the Ganges’ raging waters swirled nearby. Meanwhile, local boatmen who ferry pilgrims and grieving family members to the cremation sites have hiked their rates, realizing that people could not carry the dead to the ghats. Lumber traders have upped the price of wood used for the funeral pyres. More than 200,000 people in Uttar Pradesh state, where Varanasi is located, have been evacuated and are living in relief camps, with floodwaters entering homes in about 800 villages across large swaths of the state. Floods are an annual occurrence in many parts of northern and eastern India during the June-September monsoon season. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)





Indian mourners perform a cremation on the roof of a building overlooking The Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi on August 23, 2016. India's holy city of Varanasi has been forced to halt cremations along the banks of the sacred river Ganges as deadly floods from monsoon rains hit parts of the country, an official said. More than 100,000 people have been forced from their homes in recent days in northern Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Bihar states as rain-swollen rivers burst their banks. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)





In this Friday, August 26, 2016 photo, the Manikarnika Ghat, center, is submerged by the flood waters in Varanasi, India. As the mighty Ganges River overflowed its banks this past week following heavy monsoon rains, large parts of the Hindu holy town of Varanasi were submerged by floodwaters, keeping away thousands of Hindu devotees. Varanasi is a pilgrim town that Hindus visit to take a dip in the holy Ganges. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)





In this Friday, August 26, 2016 photo, a body to be cremated lies on the floor of the Manikarnika Ghat, submerged by the flood waters, in Varanasi, India. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)





A dead body is transported on a boat through the flooded streets of Varanasi, near the Manikarnika Ghat, India, Saturday, August 27, 2016. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)





In this Friday, August 26, 2016 photo, funeral service employees work on a flooded area near the Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi, India. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)





Indian workers at a crematorium transfer woods to a dry place at Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi, India, Saturday, August 27, 2016. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)





In this Friday, August 26, 2016 photo, a Hindu mourner has his head shaved after attending a funeral service in Varanasi, India. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)





In this Thursday, August 25, 2016 photo, Hindu mourners attend the cremation at the flooded Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi, India. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)





In this Thursday, August 25, 2016 photo, Hindu funerals are performed atop of a Hindu temple at the flooded Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi, India. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)





An Indian man sleeps outside a temple as local workers stack woods to be used for funeral pyres at the flooded Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi, India, Saturday, August 27, 2016. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)





In this Thursday, August 25, 2016 photo, Hindu funerals are performed atop of a Hindu temple at the flooded Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi, India. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)





In this Friday, August 26, 2016 photo, boats are docked at the Manikarnika Ghat, submerged by the flood waters in Varanasi, India. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)





In this Thursday, August 25, 2016 photo, Hindu mourners sit on a boat at the Manikarnika Ghat, on the banks of the Ganges river in Varanasi, India. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)





A thin line of smoke rises from burning funeral pyres on a rooftop of a temple at the flooded Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi, India, Saturday, August 27, 2016. (Photo by Tsering Topgyal/AP Photo)





An Indian shopkeeper sits on a boat outside his flooded shop at The Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi on August 23, 2016. More than 100,000 people have been forced from their homes in northern Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Bihar states, as rain-swollen rivers burst their banks. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia//AFP Photo)