This wood will be used for cremation nearby at the Jalasai ghat, more commonly named Manikarnika, though the manikarnika occupies more than the space where the bodies of deceased are burnt, and their ashes scattered in the river, thus allowing the spirit to leave its earthly coil and unite forever (moksha) with its creator.
Only a certain caste of untouchables, the Doms, can handle the cremation, a right that has been theirs since immemorial times ( as legends have it). Doms sell the wood, collect a fee for each corpse, and tend to the cremation itself.