A filmmaker has set Delhi's famous and largest crematorium Nigambodh Ghat as the backdrop of her upcoming book on the yoginis. The filmmaker set out to paint sixty-four yoginis on the canvas, and as a part of the effort she visited temples dedicated to yoginis all across the country.

Noting that Hindu women conventionally don't visit crematorium, Dr S Beena Unnikrishnan in her book, Whispers of the Unseen: The Quest for the Sixty-Four Yoginis, writes that she finally visited the Kali Temple at the Nigambodh Ghat in the company of her spiritual mentor, who she addresses as Dr David in the book.

Dr. Beena states that the Nigambodh Ghat is the oldest of the crematoriums in the national capital while recalling that it has got the name because "the Lord Brahma after bathing in the river Yamuna recovered his lost memory".

She mentions the significance of the Delhi crematorium, saying that "this is the only place that can remind us of the power of our breath and life".

Dr Beena mentions that the "Kali Temple is located at the far-left corner of the cremation ground, and one had to walk between burning pyres to see the goddess... the Kali Temple was a small one, and you need to bend down a little to see the goddess." The filmmaker gives a vivid description of her spiritual mentor making a 'Manas pooja (a ritual where offerings are made from the mind, symbolic of material ones such as flowers and water)' to the Kali Temple at the Nigambodh Ghat.

The author gives an account of the blazing sun in the summer when she spent hours at the Nigambodh Ghat while rains afterwards doused the burning pyres.

She writes that she was dazzled after her spiritual mentor re-ignited the fire at a wet pyre of a young man by pointing his finger.

Dr Beena writes that this was an unforgettable incident when she witnessed the yogic power of her spiritual mentor with whom she visited several yogini temples across the country.

Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, in his foreword for the book lauds Dr Beena while underlining that there has not been much work on yoginis.

Recalling her visit to the Nigambodh Ghat, Dr Beena writes: "Just as I entered Nigambodh Ghat, my legs froze. I was unable to move. There were more than ten bodies awaiting their turn at the pyre at the crematorium. There was not a single woman in sight.

Summer was at its peak in Delhi, and the heat emanating from the burning pyres made me dizzy."