Advertisement
Published: July 20th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Ghat
Steps down to Ganges River are called ghats Varanasi and Delhi
The main purpose of my trip to India was to visit Kolkata as I mentioned in my
previous entry of this blog. But the time I had also allowed me a little bit of sightseeing in
New Delhi and to visit
Varanasi.
Varanasi sits on the banks of
Ganges River, a river that to the Hindus is holy. Varanasi is a holy city and is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the Hindu religion.
Most pilgrims visit Varanasi to have a ritual bath in the river. By having a ritual bath in the holy Ganges River the Hindus are cleaned both to their body and soul. It is a bit ironic that the Ganges River is so heavily polluted that if you swim in the water you are actually
dirtier when you get out of the water than you were when you entered.
The access to the river is made easier by the
ghats along the river. A ghat is basically a set of stairs down to the water. But there is also a bit more to it. On the more popular ghats people gather to enjoy the views or keep the bathers company. Locals linger there and
Ghat
Ghat with a temple behind it try to sell water, food or massage to the visitors. Sometimes there is a temple next to the ghat. So before or after the ritual bath in Ganges River the pilgrims can go for prayer. Most of the action in Varanasi revolves around the string of ghats along Ganges River.
There are over 100 ghats along the river. The busiest ghats and the ones that draw the biggest crowds are the burning ghats. When a Hindu dies the best way to be cremated is at a funeral pyre beside the Ganges River and have the ashes spread in the river. Hundreds of people are cremated at the burning ghats every day. Even more people are cremated elsewhere and have their remains spread in the river. So you might say that the River Ganges is the last resting place for millions of people. If it is of any interest to you I can inform that one of them is the musician
George Harrison.
When I start thinking about it I find the ritual bathing in the River Ganges to be a bit disgusting. The water of the river is dirty as it is. Up the river sewer water is emptied
Ghat
Some of the ghats look different from others straight into the river untreated causing the water to be contaminated with all kinds of things you don't want to swim in. Add to that ashes of thousands of dead people and you get a pretty nasty fluid that barely can be called water anymore. When they cremate people in India they use wood. Wood cost money and poor people often, in order to save money, use as little wood as possible. Hence sometimes the cremation process is not complete leaving unburned body parts in the funeral pyre. These are thrown into the river together with the ash. No matter how important it is I would think twice before I jump into a concoction of urine, faeces and human torsos.
It is not known exactly how old the tradition of bathing in Ganges River in Varanasi really is. But it is believed to have been going on for at least 2000 years. Since there has been activity down by the river for such a long time some of the oldest ghats are probably more than 1000 years old. The steps might have been replaced but not the ghat itself.
Some of the ghats are simple and not much
Building behind a ghat
Behind some of the ghats are temples or other impressive buildings more than the steps themselves. But some ghats are impressive with large temples behind and adorned with statues.
Since Varanasi is a pilgrimage place a lot of people gather here for spiritual reasons. In the city there are a few temples where worshippers gather for prayer. Considering the size and the importance of the city I found the number of temples was lower than I had expected. There were three or four rather important temples in the city (only one of them allowed photography inside hence the lack of photos of them) and a few along the river. I had expected a lot more. Most of the temples along the river were surprisingly small too so you can actually walk right by some of them and not know that they are there.
Varanasi and other pilgrimage places attract holy men, the so called
sadhus. They are often painted in their faces and wear clothes with bright colours. They live from donations mainly from other Hindus. But some of the sadhus have realised that you can get a lot more money from Westerners if you can trick them into taking photos. I for one happily pay for a nice
Burning Ghat
Each day hundreds of people are cremated at the various burning ghats along the river photo or two of a sadhu if I have to. The sadhus that make the most money are those who have some sort of "gimmick". I have earlier seen sadhus who carry around animals or snakes. Many years ago in Nepal I saw a sadhu who for a dollar lifted a heavy rock with his genitals.
In Varanasi I took photos of one genuine sadhu. I also took photos of a snake charmer. I don't really think he was a sadhu though. He was just a man who knew how to make good money from tourists. The snake in the basket was real. I didn't check but I would think that the snake had had its fangs removed so I guess it wasn't dangerous.
After I left Varanasi I went to Delhi to catch the flight back to Sweden. I had one day to spend in the Indian capitol and decided to visit three places: The
Connaught Place,
Qutb Minar and The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets.
Connaught Place is a centre of commerce and business in Delhi. It is not the only, not the biggest and probably not the most important centre of commerce in Delhi. But I
Funeral pyre
Funeral pyre at one of the burning ghats. am sure that it is the most architecturally inspiring centre of commerce. It is built as three large concentric circles, five if you include the park and the centre square, giving the area a shape that makes it look very different from other centres in Delhi and elsewhere. Most of the buildings were built in the 1930-ies and are in a style making me think of Europe and Great Britain rather than India.
Qutb Minar is a complex of ruins after various monuments, temples and minarets. The three most famous structures in the Qutb Minar area are the
Iron Pillar, the Alai Minar and
Qutb Minar.
The Iron Pillar is a roughly 7 meter high pillar made of iron. A remarkable fact is that the pillar has stood there for 1600 years and has never rusted.
The Alai Minar is the massive foundations to a never finished minaret. When construction started the aim was to build a 140 meter high minaret. The project turned out to be too ambitious and was abandoned after less than 30 meters of it was finished.
The Qutb Minar is an over 70 meter high minaret. An impressive height if you consider that
Ritual bathing in River Ganges
The ritual bathing in River Ganges cleans your body and your soul it was built in the 12th century.
In the Qutb Minar complex there are also many other ruins after various buildings, temples and houses. All of them are old and many of them are not more than ruins.
The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets is an old favourite of mine. I visited it when I was in Delhi six years ago and I simply loved it. I found it so hilarious that I have actually made a separate blog entry just about that. If you wish to read it you can
follow this link.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.09s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0387s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
J P Shastri
non-member comment
Varanasi-Photo
It is my city.