The "Real India"

---

Travel from Jaipur to Varanasi was easy. Only 2 flights connecting through Delhi. By the end of this trip, Delhi Airport will be as familiar as RDU.

Describing our 24 hours in Varanasi is difficult. Our guide, Aman (a university trained anthropologist), called his city “The Real India”. It was simultaneously real and surreal. We were at turns amazed, humbled, horrified and enchanted. Varanasi cannot be seen, it can only be experienced. All our senses were engaged (willingly and unwillingly), sometimes overwhelmed. The sights and sounds we attempted to capture in video and still photographs. The taste, smell and spiritual senses will be tougher to convey. Pardon the long post, but again, this blog is as much for Leo and I as it is for our readers. I want to jot down as many details as I can to help preserve our memories. Any cultural references I make are as explained to us (or understood by us) from our guide(s). The information may, or may not be complete or correct, but it is what I will remember.

Our first afternoon started out simple enough. We had a few hours between being dropped off at our hotel (Taj Gateway Varanasi) and being picked up by our guide for our afternoon/evening tour. Having been in India for a week, we felt brave enough to wander off the hotel grounds and explore the local environs. At no time during our trip have we felt threatened or unsafe from the people around us. Traffic is another issue completely. Walking along the nonexistent sidewalks or crossing the road, is truly frightening (this is coming from a gal who was born and raised in NYC!). What we discovered, India is just as dirty up close as it is from the view in the backseat of our car. The crowds of people, sights and smells are just more intense. Our walk lasted about 40 minutes. That was enough. I did however; get the chance to snap that shot of a motorcycle parked alongside a cow (or visa versa).

Back in the safety and cleanliness of our hotel, we went exploring. Our experience in India’s luxury hotels has been wonderful. The staff is overly attentive (more on this in other post). Here, a hotel employee was anxious to show us the mango trees growing on their property. Before we knew it, we were accompanied by a small entourage of hotel staff including the maitre de, the head chef, chief gardener and one or two others. Leo had the chance to pick some mangos from a tree that the chef would later use to make us something to eat. We also got to view their vegetable garden used to prepare dishes for the restaurant. The mango smoothie was amazing!

After Aman came and got us, we began our tour at the Temple of India. It felt more like a small museum, but he explained it is a sight where people can come to worship Mother India. Basically, it was a large room built in 1919 with a large topographical map built to scale of the Indian Sub Continent made from marble. We got a great geography (one of my favorite subjects) and anthropology lesson.

Our driver dropped us at the edge of the famous part of the city known as Kashi. On an average day, 20,000 pilgrims visit Kashi. Eighty percent of them to either cremate or spread the ashes of their family members. Just a few months prior to our visit, was the festival of xxxx. During this time 20 million people descended on Varanasi to worship in the Ganges. The numbers are staggering.

We started out on the broad crowded streets on the periphery of Kashi and steadily moved towards the river through increasingly narrow streets, alleyways and footholds. The shops sold clothing, toiletries and a myriad of assorted other items. There were many food vendors, preparing good smelling, good looking food that we dare not sample. The hygiene was not up to our standards (or even close) and the heat of the food was beyond what we could tolerate. As we entered deeper into the winding alleyways (thank goodness we had someone who knew the way) the wares in the shops changed. Now it was incense, shrouds, flowers, wood and many religious icons. As we got closer to the river, there were multiple ashrams, and temples. There were many bald men and few women. (Oh yeah, plenty of cows). We saw several Sodus (self proclaimed prophets) and Gurus (teachers – bringing souls from darkness to light). Upon hearing some chanting, our guide rushed us up to the balcony of a nearby Ashram where we could witness pallbearers carrying a bamboo pallet with the saffron colored shrouded body of a loved one down to the river.

As we emerged from the part of the Kashi nearest the river GangaJi (anglicized to Ganges by the British), we witnessed several ritual cremations being done. The pallbearers dip the shrouded body in the Ganges and then allow it to drain for 20 minutes. The saffron shroud is discarded (a white shroud remains) and the body is laid upon a pile of wood and then topped with more wood. The fire is lit by the oldest surviving male child of the deceased (the head mourner has his head shaved prior to lighting the fire). For the next 2.5 hours the fire is attended to by the Dom to keep it hot and burning well. The attending male family members, just ‘hang around” waiting for the cremation to finish. To the casual observer, it feels rather callous.

While we were there, there were at least a dozen cremations ongoing. Surprisingly there is no offensive smell. In addition to the 600 pounds of wood used for each cremation, they add a small amount of sandalwood, clarified butter and herbs to the fire. For whatever reason, this nullifies the awful smell of burning flesh. Any parts of the skeleton not consumed in the flames (hip bones of women and ribs of men) are casually tossed into the Ganges and later collected by the city for further disposal. On an average day, there are 250 cremations at this site.

The flame tender, the Dom, is a member of the lowest of the lowest caste in Indian society. It is an undesirable job handed down through generations. The Dom Raja (Fire King) is the person who owns the eternal flame and sells it to all the mourners at whatever price he sees fit. The eternal flame has been burning for thousands of years and was started by the God Shiva. The Dom also has the unenviable task of sifting the ashes to collect any non consumed valuables (think gold teeth) to give to the Dom Raja.

In the Hindu faith, being cremated on the banks of the river Ganges, or having one’s ashes spread into the river by a Brahmin priest during a soul prayer, ensures the achievement of Moksha, the ultimate salvation in the Hindu religion. For this reason, there is no sadness or tears evident at these death rituals. It is also the reason that no women attend these ceremonies (they presumably cannot hold back their tears). While watching these ceremonies, I felt reverent and also like an interloper. I felt as if I may have been invading a private family matter that did not concern me. Like a voyeur at a funeral.

Glad to be out of the maze of alleys in the Kashi, we walked along the Ghats on the river. Being early (or prior to the start) of the monsoon season, the Ganges was low. According to our guide, over the next few weeks, all the steps on the Ghats as well as the flood plains on the other side of the river will be covered with water. Along the riverbank we saw, people swimming, children playing, people bathing, men having their heads shaved, cows hanging out, people praying, people doing yoga, tourists snapping pictures and people tossing garbage into the river. Leo and I found it hard to understand how carelessly the pilgrims and residents treat what they deem to be one of the holiest of places.

We walked along to the main Ghat where we boarded a small, very old, much rotted looking row boat (seaworthy did NOT come to mind). From here we viewed the previously mentioned sites from a discreet distance providing a new perspective. We watched the sunset over Kashi and saw the flames of the cremations against the darkening sky. We both placed a dish with flowers and candles into the river as we made a wish for the health and happiness of our family. (We were both extremely cautious not to touch the river!)

We disembarked our ‘cruise’ at the main Ghat in time to watch the pilgrims gather for the daily ritual of Thanksgiving held at 8 PM each evening. This was another feast for our senses. We watched as seven young Brahmin priests, performed ritual adulations while singers chanted Hindu music, incense and smoke burned and bells rang to energize the spirits. It felt quite magical to witness this remarkable ceremony. Our guide helped us to view this from a balcony above and then moved us to a position just beneath one alter.

Our guide rushed us to a bicycle rickshaw and led us out of Kashi to our waiting car prior to the end of the ceremony as to avoid getting caught in the large rush of people. Good thing as our pick up the next morning was to be at 4:30 AM so we could witness sunrise and its associated rituals along the Ganges.

---