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Published: December 3rd 2006
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We arrived in Varanasi at 4:30am after an overnight train ride where typically I get a good sleep, but no sleep is a good one when you have to wake up at 4:30am! On the train we made friends with an English hippy, Darren, and caught a rickshaw with him from the train station to the old city center of Varanasi. Darren loves Varanasi, this is his third time here, so we figured he would be a good person to hook up with…or simply follow.
Waking up early proved to be beneficial because we arrived at the ghats at dawn and saw the sun rise over the Ganges. We got the best of Varanasi within two hours of arriving!
Varanasi is a holy city and most famous for its ghats, or steps down into the river. The circle of life happens at the ghats and they are used for pretty much anything and everything. In the morning people are bathing, washing clothes or having a glass of chai. In the afternoon, people take a stroll along the stone steps, play cricket or sit in the shade listening to a guru preach about the meaning of life. By evening candles
line the steps of the ghats and devout Hindu's perform pooja (worship and prayer rituals) for the gods. Banana leaf bowls filled with marigolds and a single wax candle flicker as they float down the river, the prayers and wishes of devoutees.
The Burning Ghats Day One
For Hindus the Ganges River is holy and after death there is nothing better for the soul than a dip in the river, roasting in a fire on the bank and then your ashes being sprinkled in the water. It’s quite the lengthy ritual. Especially the burning part.
Many tourists coming to Varanasi are really moved by the burning ghats and the Hindu ceremonies that take place along the ghats, but maybe I’m adapted now that I’ve been here a while. I saw a charred head and limbs burning among the embers and I thought, “Well, how else would Indians do it?” We get cremated at home and burning on the river in a pile of wood is just a more basic, simple way, as is everything in India.
The Burning Ghats Day Two
In the evening Darren, Jarrod and I took a stroll down the ghats and
Smokey Day
The burning ghats from afar arrived at a smaller, more intimate burning ghat. A large crowd of about 100 men were standing around (the women relatives and friends aren't present at the burning ghat ceremonies) and up on a circle platform a high caste, Brahman, was being cremated. On the ground, closer to shore, there was a smaller gathering of about 10 men around a fire that had just been lighted. Through the flames the orange cloth covering the body slowly discentigrated to expose his head and feet. His short black hair swivelled and smoked and finially dissappeared. His feet ballooned and slowley the skin melted away exposing redish flesh. Over these five minutes I no longer felt that I had become "used to" India, rather it was a sobering display of how precious life really is.
The Animals
Since arriving, we’ve seen plenty of tragedy with the local animals. It seems to be breeding season for the street dogs and there are flea infested puppies everywhere. Every so often there is a box or shelter set up out of scraps for the mommy dog and puppies to sleep safely out of the hectic streets. It’s a shame that not many of them
will end up living much past a year old. Today we saw a dog waddling along, his back legs in a permanent bow-legged stance to provide room for his elephantiasis balls. His sack was so huge it hung half way to the ground and it had bloody sores and blisters on it.
Most tragic: I’ve seen not one but two cats lying in the ally way frozen stiff legs jutting out. It’s like they were walking along and then just fell over sideways.
We’ve also seen a small bird, breed unidentifiable, trampled into the stone pathway. Just a beak, two yellow stick legs and some white feathers in between.
But most horrid was witnessing the electrocution of a baby monkey. Just as we were stepping out of our guest house we heard a loud SMACK. Looked left and we see a baby monkey has landed right on its side on the stone pathway. I think, “Holy Cow! Jumping from wires and buildings and trees I've never seen one fall before.” A split second later I realize that the baby monkey hasn’t jumped up and run away, instead, it was convulsing and twitching on the ground. Adult monkeys
started to scream from all directions and a big monkey ran up the path towards the baby. In fear of being blamed for the fall and therefore attacked we tucked back into the doorway of the guesthouse and closed the wire gate. We watched as the big monkey tucked the baby monkey up to its stomach but the baby didn’t grab on because it was still unconscious. So instead the big monkey held the baby between his legs and started climbing up the building to safety. They were almost to the top, just one more ledge to climb over… and the baby monkey fell from the leg grip and once more and hit the stone pathway with a thud. More frantic screeching from the monkeys and the baby was quickly picked up again and rushed down the path out of sight. We really felt bad for the poor baby monkey.
Last Thoughts
Overall we really enjoyed our time in Varanasi and wished we didn't have to leave so soon. But with only two weeks left in India we've bought all our train tickets in advance and know where we'll be for the remainder of our time.
Next
Stop: (South West) Bandhavgarh Park to go on a safari!
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Kevin
non-member comment
Morbid!! But interesting none the less. Where are you off to after India?