Circuit of India: Days 8 and 9 in Varanasi

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I am now in Varanasi, situated on the west bank of the Ganges and India’s holiest Hindu city. The spiritual and religious legacy goes back nearly 3,000 years. This is the city of Shiva, the foremost amongst the 12 places where the god burrowed and then burst into the sky in a fiery pillar of light. The Ganges is accessed by a series of approximately 90 ghats stretching along a 6km stretch of the river. The ghats are lined with temples and shrines and are used for daily rituals and profound rites of passage.

Late yesterday afternoon, I took a bicycle rickshaw and went to the Dasashvamedha Ghat, the most centrally located ghat and the holiest spot on the river, named after the 10 simultaneous horse sacrifices performed by Brahma the Creator. Here was a ton of traffic and it was a bit scary since there are absolutely no traffic rules here! My driver was good and rang his bell and yelled a lot so we made decent time. He dropped me off as close as he could get and I still had to walk another 10 minutes or so. He waited for me which was nice. There is an evening prayer ceremony at the ghat that I attended, along with at least 5,000 other people. I watched from land, but you can also watch from a boat. It was very crowded which is to be expected as 10,000 people a day come to Varanasi. There is a Goddess Durga festival on right now so it’s extra busy. There are lights along the street and it looks a bit like an overdone mall at Christmastime.

I didn’t see too much of the ghats or the main market last night as it got dark and the crowds were a bit more than I could handle. I figured I’d go back in the day time and get a better look. I did walk sown a little ways and saw four funeral pyres burning at the Manikarnika Ghat, one of two funeral ghats in Varanasi. I also saw one dead body being washed in the Ganges in preparation for cremation.

I got up at 4:30am this morning and got picked up at 5:00am for a sunrise boat ride along the Ganges. There were a surprising number of people out that early! My driver took me close to the boat dock and handed me off to another man who handed me off to a boat man who handed me off to another boat man who handed me off to another boat man. I was getting a little scared, especially when the last guy wanted me to walk down a very narrow, very dark alley which I initially balked at. He said the river was at the end and there was a street light so I finally agreed to go. The man had his son with him and we three got in the boat. It was still pretty dark when we set out, but it gradually got lighter. It was cloudy so there was no real sunrise, just a lightening of the sky. We started from near the Dasashvamedha Ghat and rowed down one way and then went back down the other way to the Manikarnika Ghat. At one end, I saw the electric crematorium with black smoke coming out of the chimney. At the Manikarnika Ghat, there was only one pyre burning, but I saw at least six bodies waiting. All were shrouded in either white cloth, what looked to be burlap, or bright gold and red clothes. Later in the morning, I saw two shrouded bodies strapped to the tops of Jeep and their way to the ghat!

All along the river, people, mostly men, were bathing in the water and drinking the water. Many men were swimming as well. The men were in their underwear or in a towel of sorts while the women were fully dressed. I only saw one blonde haired person in the water and she was swimming along quite naturally. I was impressed as the water is a grayish color and clearly not clean. People were also collecting water in brass or clay pots and to bring to the Visahwanath Temple (see below).

The boat man was nice and he was happy to have just one person. Many of the boats were quite full and it’s a lot more work to row with the additional weight. His son was jumping around and singing. We did have to pull over at one point so the kid could poop on the beach! He certainly wasn’t the only one doing so!

After the boat ride, the first man was waiting for me and he took me to see the Visahwanath Temple, the city’s principal Shiva shrine which is over 1,000 years old and topped with 750kg of gold. We walked through a series of small winding lanes and I had to dodge all kinds of poop, mysterious liquids, cows, dogs, people, bike, and motorcycles. It was a challenge! No bags or cameras or electronics are allowed and security was very tight. There is a mosque immediately adjacent to the temple which is why security is so intense. There were at least 50 men with rifles near the two buildings. Up on entering the lane leading to the mosque, I was patted down (or actually felt up) quite thoroughly! As I am not a Hindu, I wasn’t allowed inside the temple so we went up into a shop which has windows overlooking the temple and the mosque. Of course, you are supposed to buy something from the shop for looking out the window, but I had the perfect excuse since my bag was in the car and I had no money! There were monkeys everywhere, maybe 20 or so including two very small ones. They were stealing and eating the flower offerings form the temple.

After this, I went back to the hotel for breakfast before my city tour. The tour was fairly short and we went to the Mother India temple which has a large relief map of India in it. We next went to a Durga temple with a large, sacred water tank full of algae and, somehow, fish. I wasn’t allowed inside here so I just walked around it. We next went to Benares Hindu University where there is a large Shiva temple. I had a look around and then had a quick tour of the campus. There are 40,000 student and colleges of nursing, sciences, languages, agriculture, medicine, and law.

I’m now back at the hotel to relax a bit. I may venture back to the main are this afternoon and have a walk along the ghats. It’s a bit daunting and a sensory overload with the noise, the crowds, the colors, and the smells.

Well, I did venture out and it turned out to be another adventure! The same rickshaw driver from yesterday was waiting for me so I went with him. I was 2:30pm and told him I wanted to go to the main market area and walk along the ghats before it got too crowded and that I wanted to be back before dark. He said OK and off we went. He asked if I wanted to go to the Muslim area and look at fabrics and silks. I said no, thank you. Varinasi is well known for its silks and brocades. Much of the fabric is woven by Muslims and, in one neighborhood, there are 20,000 Muslims living and almost every home has a loom in it. He started driving and when we didn’t turn where we had the day before, I asked about it. He said he was taking a “different way”. I had a bad feeling about it, but there wasn’t much I could do. About 20 minutes or so later, he pulled into a neighborhood and stopped outside a house. I could hear the looms and knew where we were. I told him that I had said no, that I didn’t want to look at anything and I wasn’t buying anything. He told me just to look and then a young man came up and said he’s give me a tour. I told him that I didn’t want a tour and that I wasn’t giving him any money and that I wasn’t buying anything. He, of course, said that looking was free, there would be no pressure, and that it would only take a minute. I finally went with him since the rickshaw driver had wandered away. We went into a few houses and saw the looms that dominate them. In each, there was a man weaving with women working and kids running around. After the third, I said I was ready to go. The guy said I needed to look in his store and I told him for the 8,000th time that I wasn’t buying anything. He said I just needed to look and took me into the store. He asked me to take my shoes off and come to the back, but I refused. He then had me sit on a bench on the front and started bringing out scarf after scarf to show me the different textures and patterns. I lasted about three minutes and said I needed to go. He looked genuinely shocked and asked why. I told him for the 8,001th time that I wasn’t buying anything! He looked unhappy, but he did take me back to the rickshaw driver. The driver knew I wasn’t happy and we set off again for the ghats. About 10 minutes later, we came up to a massive traffic jam due to a Durga Festival parade. We were stuck for a few minutes and then the driver turned around and took off down a side street. We were then in a neighborhood of very small, very narrow lanes and I wasn’t happy about it. I kept asking him where we were and where he was going. He kept saying “the parade, five minutes”. It was another half hour before we were on the main street leading to the market area. At this point, it was just after 4:00pm and it was already crowded. I did walk down to the ghats and started off, but there were so many people and everyone was trying to sell me stuff. I just wanted a nice, quiet walk but it was clear I wasn’t going to get one! I headed back and did wander a bit in the market, but was again assailed non-stop by people wanting me to look at their shop, get on their rickshaw, give them money, etc so I just headed back to the rickshaw after only 40 minutes. The driver was waiting and he knew I was upset. We set off back to the hotel and he apologized when we finally got back. I paid him and headed into the hotel. He called after me and asked if I’d need him again the next day! I said a big “nahi”!

I ended up eating dinner at the McDonalds next door since the hotel’s restaurants weren’t open yet and I was too hungry to wait another two hours. I then just hung out in my room and watched TV and read “The Kite Runner”. What a great book!

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Photos

Varanasi Traffic Jam
View from my bike rickshaw on the way to the eveing aarti (prayer service)

Bull in a Saree Shop
This bull comes to this shop every day to sit and watch the customers! They have even added his photo to the store billboard.

Evening Aarti on the Banks of the Ganges
The evening prayer service serves as a salutation to the river. Oil lamps are burned, bells are rung, and matras are chanted by several priests.

View of the Varanasi Ghats Along the Ganges
Taken from the boat cruising along the river

Ghat Along the Ganges
I liked the stripes on this ghat.

View of the Varanasi Ghats Along the Ganges
The smoke is from an electic creamatorium where bodies are creamated before the ashes are deposited in the river

View of the Varanasi Ghats Along the Ganges
At the far end is the Manikarnika Ghat where bodies are creamated on wooden pyres and the ashes deposited in the river

Dasashvamedha Ghat on the Ganges
This is te main ghat in Varanasi and is the site of the evening aarti. Priests are available here at all times for the many pilgrims who travel to Varanasi.

Hotel Clarks Swimming Pool
I spent quite a bit of time here!