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This past week India has seen more new COVID-19 cases than any other country since the crisis began, as hospitals struggle to deal with a massive influx of patients and shortages of oxygen. Meanwhile, the country has surpassed the grim milestone of 200,000 death, with crematoriums overwhelmed. The facilities are running out of space and time, forcing workers to organize mass round-the-clock cremations and build makeshift pyres, an important part of the Hindu funeral ritual. Cremation is believed to be quickest way to release the soul and help with reincarnation.
Photographer Mayank Makhija captured a dramatic aerial view of a crematorium in the Indian capital city of New Delhi, showing a dozen funeral pyres burning at the same time.
