This is the moment a man pours liquor and places a cigarette on his dead father’s body who is being cremated upon a pyre during what appears to be a mass funeral in India.

The unusual last ritual where the man, who was not identified, claimed to be fulfilling his father’s last wish, was recorded at Manikarnika Ghat, a holy cremation ground located on the Ganges river. In the city of Varanasi, in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

In the video, the man was seen standing next to his father’s burning pyre as he offered liquor to the deceased by seemingly pouring some over his mouth.

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Then, he placed a beedi, a thin Indian cigarette wrapped in a leaf, during the surprising formalities filmed earlier this month.

The peculiar choice of offerings also included a piece of Banarasi paan, a type of treat that consists of a betel leaf filled with ingredients like lime, herbs and dried fruits.

Pawan Kumar Sharma, who recorded the video, asked the young man the purpose of the offerings. He answered saying that his father’s final wish was to have his favourite drink, cigarettes, and snack, should be present at his funeral.

He added: “May none of his wishes remain unfulfilled.”

Several other pyres could be seen burning in the background with families present.

This funeral tradition is reportedly common among the locals. Who consider the riverfront a sacred place for cremation, believed to bring salvation to the deceased’s soul.

In Hinduism, death is seen as a passage to a new life determined by one’s karma. It is believed that cremation leads to moksha, liberating the soul and ending the cycle of rebirth.