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Published: February 16th 2007
Indian Sadhu - Varanasi
The beauty of this picture is nothing is staged!!! if i wasn't there it still would have happened just like that... Sitting on the banks of the Gange, just chillin and chatting with the Sadhu's as they lived and smoked the chillums...For Everything You Feel And See In India The Opposite Is Also True!!! Its Rich & Poor, Spiritual Yet At The Same Time So Very Materialistic,Simple and difficult, Cruel And Kind, Angry Yet Peaceful, Both Ugly And Beautiful, Smart And O So Stupid… Yet Amougst These Extremes That Defy Understanding, Its All Ok!!!! Theres No Reason To Justify Anything!!! Simply Soak It All Up And Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!…
And the sumit of all these contrasts is to be found in “Varanasi” India’s Oldest and Holiest City… But more about that in abit!!! I’m just in Katmandu writing this and getting ready for my Bus/Train Journey from hell part two!!!!!!!
Part One!!!! Journey to Nepal!!!!
Started in Kalkuter, I arrived here first as wanted to have mainland India boxed off before I fly to Andaman Islands (Most people go to Katmandu from Varanasi which is directly North into Nepal where as KalKuter is East India)… So first part was a train to the border crossing (Ruxar), now trains for me are just fine!!! I always go second class sleeper and always a top bunk (set in a small encloser the 8 beds, 3 and 3 coming adjacent from the right hand
Varanasi Burning Ghats
From here you can see second tier of ghats which is used for the middle class society. On the right you can make out the head and the arm quite easily ( but i zoomed in too and the picture is below... wall and the other 2 laying paralel with the lefthand wall, 1 high 1 low).. But this time a got the Upper lefthand wall which although had always looked smaller while veiwing from my previous bunks this time I was to find out that it was!!!!!!!!! By about a knee bending 40 centermeters!!!!! not Happy, no others and a 17 hour journey.. Evil Start!!!!
Now I was never gonna see much of Nepal but felt I should make an effort!!!! But when I got to the border and it was chaos I nearly turned back!!!! Feeling very tied and amounst 1000’s of people trying to negotiate the border which had incidently been closed for the last 4 days due to trouble!!!!
I walked the 3 miles to both checkpoint crossing as the traffic was so bad it was static… And after a 4 hour wait (in an empty hut while some guy came from home!!) I got my visa ($30) and headed off to book my bus!!!!!
Its now 2pm and my bus is at 7pm so just found a little drinking hut and had a beer with my local street food (a risk I normally avoid
Latest Picture!!!!
This is the latest picture i have of me!!! Taken last night, although the facial growth has now gone!!!! as leaving Nepal for the Warmth again!!!!.. before a long trip!!!!.. fingers & legs crossed…lol)…
My Bus!!!!!!!! I have done some shitting journeys since last June but this takes the biscuit (Bisk-it?)….
Ok picture this… led from the travel office of this, street of a town, and off into a side alleys?? I had one of those “this doesn’t feel right moments??” But I went anyway into the dark!!! And there it was, Old bus, and as you approach the ticket guy points into the back seat though the window and declares that’s my seat!!! Along with the 6 others who are already on it???... Now as you can see from the picture (page 2) the roof was full so I was expected to take my Rucksack on with me?????
So I get on and Oh My God!!! It’s my definition of full!!! Theres no floor visable due to the aisle being lined with vats of liquid so much so that they came level with the seat cushions creating a new temparary floor at this new floor level!!!! So after ambling over these I get to the back.. A small girl is told to sit on the vats in the aisle so I get the middle
Wondering The Town...
Me wondering the streets of Varanasi.. This day in paticular i walked for 6 hours!!!!!! seat!!!... I jam my rucksack into the small space left for my feet which makes a right angle effect for me, there in the middle seat with legs stretched out infront across the vats.. Not Bad????
This trip is about widening my knoledge of things!!! So lets start with my definiton of full!!!!! Now I counted 44 seats and 50 people, a couple in the aisle and sitting around the door steps, and at times 3 on a seat…. Its 7:07 and time to go!!! Or so you’d think!!!!! Not untill 7:36 and the arrival of a further 20 people!!!!!!!! Yes 70 on this bus!!!!!!!... I was horrible!!!!!!! I had my legs moved (I say moved, some guy came and sat on them so I kicked him away but after 4 others tried It becamne clear what the game was, so I let one sit against my legs untill they went Numb and I had to move them!!!!!) to create more space with my knees now at my chest and I was trapped!!!!... For this my 12 hour?? Bus ride…
It was dark but on my Right I had 3 very old guys, the nearest with only one
Beautiful Kids!!!!
Again stunning kids... eye!!! Nice!!!... But as my eyes adjusted to my new dark cage and the people around I became worried!!! As to my Left i had a small old man with what I presumed was his wife next to him by the window… Then as we pulled of she tried to close the window but couldn’t!!!! so I reached over to help but in doing so and moving into the light I could see she had no fingers!! Just stumps!!! And although taken aback, its all cool!!! She thanks me in a cackling witch kind of way and I sit back with a smile… Then I notice him!!!! Being in a similar state I think “Leprasy!!!!” they both have it and I think baclk to one of my reads Papillion where he’s stranded on a leper island while making a prison break but its ok to be near them if you don’t touch the wounds or eat or drink with them!!!!!
But I was not confortable with the situation and tried to find a way of sleeping where fristly my legs didn’t go numb and secondly i wouldn’t touch through the night with the lepers!!! This was by wrapping my hands
Bon jour I Am Zee Sadhu... hon hon hon..
This guy actually has a farm in the south of france but comess over every year for the holy festivals... He does a great trick with the organs he no longer has need for!!?? I got it on video!!!!!! in my blanket (which was no longer needed for warmth as was an oven in here!!!! Yet 2 degrees outside!!)… I did however have one great idea!!!!! Befroe I set off one of my concerns on this 40 hour journey was security of my stuff while I slept!!!! Now my sack was under my legs and all my other stuff (passport . money, etc..) I moved to my lefthand pocket with the concealed zip as “Lepers with no fingers make crap pickpockets!!!!!”…. so pretty safe!!!
Anyway the trip was terrible!!!! People fighting for space through-out the night!!! Snoring, farting and to top it off we had 4 punchers!!!! Yes 4!!! 3 to repair it till we found a mechanic place and the last to switch tyres!!!!!!! My little trip to spend a few days in Nepal had turned into a nightmare!!!!! The bus journey was 20 hours!!!!! And along with my 20 hour train and 7 hour crossing wait I was well and truly pissed off by the time we finally got there!!!!! I found a hotel with a TV and hot water, room service (still only 3quid!!) and slept for 2 days!!! Barely moving except to eat and
Vasranasi Ghats...
Locals washing in the ghats, both themselves and their clothes... get supplies!!!!
Now I say part 1 as to fly back which believe me I checked is about 40 quid and that’s not in me budget!!!! So I have the exact same trip in just 4 hours time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway
"Varanasi"…
What a wonderful place!!!! Highly bizaar and yet not as shocking as I was expecting…. The layout of the city is against the Ganges river… Its holiness to hindu’s comes from Varanasi being the place where necture used when creating the earth was spilt and landed in the ganges (along with 3 other places in India)……. 1000’s of Hindus come here to die each year as it’s the only place from which you can go directly to heaven…
This whole process is right out in the open for all to see and takes place in the form of open air cremations and casting others into the Ganges… I stayed in a small place, views overlooking the ghats and at just 120 rupees per night was a bargain!!!! And my first visit to these burning ghats was just a 2 minute walk along the rivers edge….
I was ready for this and without being too morbid
The Truth!!!!!!!!
With over 15 bodies dropped onto the river bed every day and left to decompose the shoreline changes as you move away from the bathing steps... very intrigued as to what my feeling would be… You just sat on a large stepped area and drank chi as if not a care in the world while before you bodies were blessed and cast upon open fires!!! You could see everything!!! As they burnt the dark flesh would peel away to reveal the yellow fat and this would inturn disapear and fuel the fire to reveal first flesh and then bone before its over!! All gone!!!! The ashes collected and caste into the Ganges…
The whole process was done in a system of wealth and standing, with the Brama having the own raised level for their burning, that bit closer to heaven.. then came the next tier for respected and aurthoritive figures.. then normal people and the floor area by the water reserved for the poor… The trouble here is it’s the only way to die!!!!!!! So the place it full of rooms/homes for the dying untill they can make their last journey… and it all costs!!!! It takes 3 hours to burn a body from start to finish and lots of wood!!! The cost of wood is 2 rupees per kilo (upto 2000rps per kg for the
Sadhu - Varanasi
Check out frenchy looking a bit scary at the back... rich who would use sandle wood for this as nicer smell and hotter burn), but even at 2rps a kilo you still needed about 3000 to afford enough for the job!!! Which on the poorer tiers does lead to families only having enough to burn the main torso!!!!! Resulting in the mingling of dogs waiting to pounce on any leftovers!!!.. The really poor who cannot afford even the smallest amount of wood will be caste into the ganges and sunk to its bottom from a flower lined boat… this is also true for babies and young children as before the age of 13 your still classed as pure and innocent, and also for the Sadhu’s (Holymen) and they had already cleansed themselves… All this was seen by the family, but no women as they are to fragile/emotional and any spilt tiers (from your eyes) would mean the soul could not make the journey to heaven….
I stayed for a while and found myself returning for 3 of the 4 days I spent here, never shocked.. Just facinated by all this… If you seen with a camera ANYWHERE near you are instantly set upon and ordered to delete the pictures!!!!
Hardest Way To Make An Easy Livin!!!!!
These two have a small magnet on the end of the string and trawl the bottom of the gange looking for rupees... Now its kind of wiered!! i dont give to beggers but had no quarms in launching a handful of rupees in for them to find!!! which they did easily!!! In some cases it ends up in the ganges!!!! And you don’t wanna swim in there to get it!!! (bacteria levels are mindblowing as you’d expect!!!)… But I did get one shot of the Burning Ghats and have included it along with a close up too…
But this is also a place of fun and expression and great joy… And with the Kumba Mela (India’s biggest festival, 4 million people!!!!! which takes place every 12 years in 4 different places alternatly, so every 4 years) at Ahmebad 2 hours down the road a few days earlier, meant Varanasi was awash with charactures!!!! The main ones being the Sadhus, India’s holy men who have denounced themselves from normal life to live a life of simple nothing where the main aim is to get closer to spiritualness by meditating and saying their mantras.. they give up everything!!! There wives, sex, and survive of donations and acts of kindness… Now although Hindu religion its not exclusivly for Indians and over the years a few westerners have fallen into this way of life, of which I met 3, a couple of guys from Italy and a French guy.. who it was great to
Streets Of Varanasi...
Life from the backstreet markets captured in this image... converse with and find out about the whole life and set up!!!! Now although they eat for free and just sit around smoking their Chylums all day I won’t be joining!!! But I take away fantastic memories of this wonderful place….
I will leave you there…. But will pop a bit of historic info below as if anyone is thinking of a visit stop right now!!! There no need!!! You should go!!!!
Wow how beautiful was my time India!!!!! You will never take it all in in one go buts that’s ok because you’ll also never only visit this wonderful place once!!!!
I know this is a little odd but I have linked my time here and they will always remind me of this great place in the following lyrics, as my personal memory of India…
“In one single moment your whole life can turn around,
I stand there for a minute staring straight at the ground..
Looking to the left slightly then looking back down,
The world feels like it’s caved in, proper sorry frown….
Please let me show you how it could only just be for us,
I could change, I could grow or
Varanasi - Sad group!!!
Sadhus finding the french Sadhus anticts just off to the left of screen very amusing!!! It was!!! i have proof but not for this family blog!!!!! we could adjust…
The wicked thing about us is we always have trust,
We could even have an open relationship if you must…
I look at her she stares almost striaght back at me,
But her eyes glace over like she looking straight through me,
Then her eyes must have closed for what seems an eternity,
When they open up she’s looking down at her feet..."
"You’ve got to walk away now, its o-wo-ver….”
The Streets - Dry Your Eyes…
And On That Note... Love To You All...
Ray...x Abit More On Varanasi... for those interested....
The information as to how and by whom the city was founded is still unknown. According to the myth, the city was founded by Hindu deity Shiva, thus making it one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in the country. In fact, it is one of the seven sacred cities of Hindus.
Many references to the city of Varanasi are found in many ancient texts, leading to more mystery. It is generally believed that the city is as old as 3000 years old.Another myth is that it is 5000 years old.It is believed that Varanasi is the
Happy Kids!!!!!
Good oldfashioned response to a ginger westerner sticking out his tougue!!!!! oldest continually inhabited city in the world.
Varanasi was a commercial and industrial centre famous for its muslin and silk fabrics, perfumes, ivory works, and sculpture. During the time of Gautama Buddha (born circa 567 BCE), Varanasi was the capital of the kingdom of Kashi. Buddha gave his first sermon at the nearby town of Sarnath. The city remained a centre of religious, educational, and artistic activities as attested by the celebrated Chinese traveler Xuanzang, who also said that the city extended for about 5 km along the western bank of the Ganges.
After the Muslim occupation, Varanasi subsequently declined during the following centuries. A symbol of Hinduism, the city was pillaged and destroyed several times by the Muslims, first by the hordes of Mahmud of Ghazni in 1033 CE, all Hindu temples being destroyed. The material was used to build mosques. Although some relief was brought by Mughal emperor Akbar at the start of the seventeenth century, another destruction was led by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb at the end of the century, who renamed the city Mohammadâbâd. In these years of Muslim rule, learned scholars fled to other parts of the country. Later the Marathas came to rescue the
Burning Ghats Of Varanasi...
You can see from this the burning of a male... With the skin left on the scalp and white fat for a face...On a good monitor you can easily make out both arms and even the fingers or lack of them...????????? city.
Varanasi (Benares) in 1922.Varanasi became an independent kingdom in the eighteenth century, and under subsequent British rule it remained a commercial and religious centre. In 1910, the British made Varanasi a new Indian state, with Ramnagar as headquarters but with no jurisdiction over the city of Varanasi. Kashi Naresh (Maharaja of Kashi) still resides in the fort of Ramnagar.
It is also said that Ayurveda originated at Varanasi. References to Varanasi can be found in age-old Indian scriptures and hymns. One such reference is found in one of the hymns written by Sri Veda Vyasa:
Ganga-taranga-ramaneeya-jataakalaapam,
Gauri-nirantara-vibhushita-vaamabhaagam.
Narayanapriyam-Ananga-madaapahaaram,
Varanasi-pura-patim bhaja Vishwanatham.
The famous American writer Mark Twain once wrote, "Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together."
On 7 March, 2006, four bombs went off in an act of terrorism at Varanasi. Around 20 people were reported killed, and many were injured. One of the bombs was planted in the Sankat Mochan Temple, a shrine dedicated to Lord Hanuman, while another was planted on a platform of the Varanasi Cantonment Railway Station, the main railway station in the city. An unknown Islamic group called
Looky Likey!!!!
Some-one will have to send this onto CrazyStu as i have the wrong address!!!! (Bee or Liz pleeez!!!) But its Danniella from Austria (from camel safari blog!!) doing her very best impression for me... I met up with them Danielle and Barbi for a few days in Kalkuter.... Lashkar-e-Kahab claimed responsibility for the terror attacks.
"Holy city"
Varanasi is closely associated with the Ganges and has many temples along the its banks.
Situated on the banks of river Ganga, Varanasi attracts thousands of Hindu piligrims every year.
People performing Hindu ceremony at one of the ghats of VaranasiVaranasi is a holy city in Hinduism, one of the most sacred pilgrimage places for Hindus of all denomination. More than 1,000,000 pilgrims visit the city each year. Here is the holy shrine of Lord Kashi Vishwanath, (an aspect of Lord Shiva) and one of the twelve revered Jyotirlingas of the Lord Shiva. Hindus believe that bathing in the river Ganga will remit sins and that dying in the holy city of Kashi (Varanasi) circumvents rebirth. This holy city is worshipped as one of the Shakti Peethas where Divine Mother Sati's earring fell and so devotees believe that on that spot stands the present Vishalakshi Temple.
In the residential neighborhood of the city lies Sarnath, the site of the deer park where Gautama Buddha is said to have given his first sermon about the basic principles of Buddhism. It is one of the four pilgrimage sites designated by Gautama Buddha,
Indian Train!!!!!
Varanasi To Kalkuter and my first major delay!!! 5 hours!!!! the other three being Kushinagar, Bodh Gaya, and Lumbini. Here the Dhamek Stupa is a impressive structure marking the spot where the Buddha gave his first sermon. The Dharmarajika Stupa is one of the few pre-Ashokan stupas remaining, although only the foundations remain. Also remaining is the Chaukhandi Stupa commemorating the spot where the Buddha met his first deciples, dating back to the fifth century or earlier amd later enhanced by the addition of an octagonal tower.
Varanasi is also a pilgrimage place for Jains. It is believed to be the birthplace of Parshvanatha, the twenty-third Tirthankar.
Vaishnavism and Shaivism have co-existed in Varanasi harmoniously. The city has also been influenced by Islamic culture.
This explains the continuous tension between communities in the city and the fact that really ancient monuments are few. However, Varanasi has kept its sacred position as the Holy City of Hinduism.
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Monica
non-member comment
first time...
Hi Ray!