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Published: December 7th 2006
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Namaste to all
Here's the first of two updates coming at ya. First - Varanasi. Second, safaris in Bandahvgarh National Park is coming soon. I've gone ahead and posted
some pictures back on the yahoo site so you'll find images for both blog entries there. enjoy...
The Ganges/Mother Ganga I arrived in Varanasi on November 22, just a day before Thanksgiving in the U.S. The city was one of the “must see” places on my itinerary for India, and I was very excited to explore the ancient town alongside the Ganges or Mother Ganga as it's known to the locals.
Varanasi is an extremely ancient and sacred city along the Ganges, where thousands upon thousands of Hindu travelers come to pay homage to Shiva (the river is said to flow from his hair) by making puja (prayers) and bathing in the river each morning and evening. In addition, dying in Varanasi and having your body cremated along the river banks is said to free one from the birth-death-rebirth cycle of reincarnation and to provide those who have obtained righteousness with the path of liberation to reunite with the essence of god, eternally.
On Thanksgiving morning, I awoke pre-dawn
to take a river trip along the Ganges to absorb the spectacle. The daily routine along the river is incredible. The entire western bank of the river is lined with about 80 ghats ... basically structures with steps that lead right down to the river for bathers to access the water. Most of the maharajahs and past emperors have constructed ghats along the river, with occasional temples scattered in between.
With everything flushed in the pre-dawn glow, individual worshipers began bathing in the river and participating in a number of individualized rituals for their particular routine. Men and women bathed. A few people swam. As the sun approached, the pace quickened and music began wafting up from the ghats as more and more were called to prayer. Finally, the sun rose to start a new day, and I was stuck trying to imagine how many people have come to this river over the last 2,000 years or so. After all, this routine happens every single day ... unfathomable!
As our boat made its way northwards along the bank, we came to the main burning ghat, a public crematorium. Each day, corpses are collected throughout the city (wrapped in
decorative covering with colors signifying age and sex) and brought to the ghat. I would see four or five bodies marched through the city streets in the days to come, but on this first morning, we were down at the river side next to the fires. A number of wood varieties are piled high on the banks, sandalwood being the most expensive and reserved for the higher castes. Families purchase enough wood for the cremation which lasts three hours. The body is first dipped in the Ganges, then burned, and what isn't finished off is put in the river; I personally saw skulls and pelvic bones carried out of the fires and deposited in the water.
In the morning, there is a break for the puja ceremony, so there wasn't much activity. I returned a few days later when things were up and running and the activity is constant. Members of the lowest castes prepare the wood (they also beg for donations so they may be able to buy wood for their own cremations later in life) and male family members come to start the ceremony .... only males, as there are no women at the cremations. Men shave
Morning Puja at the Ganga
I didn't frame this as well as possible, but that's the river's surface at the bottom of the picture ... notice the bathers especially the man dunking himself ... this was the norm. their heads and then preside over the ceremony. There were at least four fires burning consecutively, lasting from early morning on throughout the night.
Watching the cremations is both haunting and awesome at once. It's not something I can really describe in words, emotionally. Naturally, we weren't allowed to take pictures at the burning ghat, only from a distance.
A few days later (after I recovered from my first bout with a nasty intestinal bug) I went back to the river for arti, the evening puja ceremony. Unlike the mornings, this is not open to everyone for participation. Instead seven bhramin priests conduct the ceremony at the main Daswamedh Ghat, with all the visitors watching. With staging and lighting, it was quite dramatic!
Settling in for Yoga and Tabla I spent most of my time in Varanasi in the old part of the city, along the ghats. Here, the city is made up of narrow stone passages, twisting and turning, winding between shops and markets. Though I only planned to stay two or three days, I ended up here for a week-and-a-half. In part, it was due to my illness. But when I returned to form, I
decided to take a couple classes. First up, yoga.
I joined with a friend I met in the guest house to take private yoga lessons from a teacher at Benaras Hindu University. It was very nice to learn some yoga from someone in India (to borrow from John Travolta in Pulp Fiction ... same ballpark? It's not even the same game!) Our classes were in our instructors home, and we learned pranayama breathing and chanting techniques along with assana poses, as well as an intro to the philosophical and spiritual side of yoga. For the record, I find it all fascinating, just as I enjoy learning about the over all Hindu culture and traditions. But when it's all said and done, I just like it for the exercise.
So, yoga was another early morning activity, as I regularly awoke at 5:30 in the morning, to get to our teacher's house on time. By the time I returned to the hotel and had breakfast, it would be time for my next endeavor ... tabla lessons!
Having grown up with the drums as my very first instrument ... not that I consider myself truly proficient (though my cousin Micah knows I can get funky) I was very excited to take some classes on the tabla. But I had absolutely no idea what was in store. Without question, the tablas are the most complicated drums I've ever tried to play (just talking hand technique) and classical Indian music has - without question - the most complicated rhythms I've ever heard. So take that one-two punch, and basically after a week of lessons I'm not learning to walk. I'm just learning to crawl. Fortunately, my teacher was a whiz and I attended two classical music concerts with tabla/sitar for half and tabla/flute for half of each performance. It's such amazing music! I'm not sure when I'll get back on the tablas, but I have a number of basic rhythms written in my notebook (each type of drum phrasing has a name “ta” “tun” “dha” etc. and the drummers can all speak the rhythms as well as play them. I also took video clips of my teacher playing the rhythms at beginner and full speeds, so I have something to work with in the future. We'll see ....
So that was the daily routine in Varanasi. One afternoon I also went on an outing to nearby Sarnath, one of India's famous Buddhist sites, at the exact location where the Buddha gave his first speech after attaining enlightenment at Bodhgaya (also in India). The site has a number of temple ruins, with the best carvings stored safely in an archaeological museum, as well as some newer temples built by modern Buddhist sects ... Thai, Jain, Tibetan, etc. It was a very peaceful respite from the hustle and bustle of crowded Varanasi.
On my final morning in town, I took one more pre-dawn walk (yes, again awake at 5-ish) along the river to see the morning puja and the burning ghats. What a magical place ... beautiful, traditional, dark, brooding, spiritual, ugly, loud, pllouted, crowded, ancient ... all in one. Varanasi.
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phutthai
non-member comment
hi david, great photos and notes - wuld love to have a few more tips re how to re hotels, food, transport, and tours-what to look out for and not to do, etc. still a great armchair travelogue - cheers