Stressed out by financial losses in the markets? Try a trip to the ancient holy city of Varanasi on the river Ganges. As a local guide says: "If you come to Varanasi, you will understand that it all ends here." And, for many of India's Hindu faithful, it does.

The holiest city in Hinduism, it has long drawn those nearing the end of their lives, due to the belief that those who die and are cremated here can be released from the cycle of birth, death, and re-birth. Many Indians also come to scatter the ashes of relatives on the Ganges, believed by Hindus to wash away all sins.