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Published: March 27th 2011
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Varanasi is without a doubt the most amazing place I have ever been in my entire life. This is because of the absolute, unfaltering, total devotion and faith that envelopes the city. No one knows the actual age of the city but it is rumored to be one the oldest in the world at around 300years old.
We arrive in pretty high spirits and randomly bumped into Katie, an Irish lass we met getting the bus from Pushkar to Jaisalmer. We head for the tourist information desk where the rep from Misha guest house was due to meet us for a free pick up. Needless to say we were conned pretty quickly but did in fact get a free auto rickshaw ride and the friendly guys carried my bag down the dirty, cramped alleyways that make up the cities old town. On arrival at Misha’s we find out that the guy from the guest house has been waiting on us for 5 hrs at the station and couldn’t get through on my mobile as I had once again run out of credit on my ridiculous Airtel sim. We check out the room which is a stone throw from the main
burning ghat on the north side and negotiate down to 450Rps from 600Rps which was ok for what we got. The hotel has a nice rooftop restaurant with amazing views and we quickly met some westerners.
We are told not to go out into the dodgy little alleyways after sunset unaccompanied as the streets are full of junkies and are dangerous, so we settle into another night in a scummy Indian hotel room. Jonny and I are pretty dam used to each other’s company and habits (good and bad) by now.
The next day we take a free walking tour with the hotel man round the old city. This place is amazing; you can actually feel the history oozing out of its pores. Buildings made from stone, with a mixture of Maughal and Indian design and temples everywhere. Most of the temples are for Siva the Hindu God of destruction and strongly associated with death, as you can imagination, Varanasi is a distinctly Siva dominated City! Jonny picked his mum up a silk scarf from the Government silk merchant shop for 600Rps and off we went to see the burning Ghats. Admittedly I was a bit apprehensive about
seeing the dead bodies burning, but as we climbed up the stairs, past all the wood piles into the burning area I was ok. It seemed pretty natural, more natural than our method of hiding the morbid part of life which is inevitable death for everyone. Here family members can gather to watch their loved one burn to ash then deposit their ashes in the sacred Ganges. It is almost a celebration.
As you walk down all the Ghats, you see many people/families with shaved heads in mourning performing puja (worship) or ablutions (washing their sins away in the water) to make sure their souls or those of their loved ones receive the best progression in their next life.
The bodies we saw burning were covered in some form of cloth, wrapped closely and there was often a skull or a foot popping out one end of the fire. At one point we could clearly see brain dripping out of the skulls nose!
Anyway, the next day we jump on a boat down to Assi ghat where apparently most of the tourists stay to avoid the cramped old town. The boat trip was amazing, viewing all the
people half naked (or more in some cases) covered in white foam bathing in green, ash, body filled water. Apparently if you are wealthy your body is not burned it is just thrown into the river with a big rock tied to it! The rest of the bodies are burned 24hrs a day. If a family cannot afford to transport a body to the Ghats for burning they just bring the ashes and put them straight in the water, and yes, people DO bathe in this.
The city from the boat is an amazing site… I’d say beautiful but it’s more fascinating with an almost enchanting spiritual grip that’s holds this city so close to my heart. We went for a stroll through the local main town, which is basically the same as most Indian towns but this one had a pen shop where Jonny spent 2500Rps on a parker then moans to me continually about his bloody budget!!!
In the evening at 6pm we took another little boat to watch the communal giant puja on the banks of the main ghat. Basically…hundreds of people gather daily to chant /Aum and sing and worship. Men dressed in monks
robes stand at the front with giant candles and burning incense whilst music blasts out from the speakers creating a spiritual aura that fills the air with life. The water is filled with candles lit by many tourists performing their own kind of puja from the boats. This was without a doubt one of the most spectacular sights I have seen and no trip to India is complete without a trip to Varanasi!
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sameer
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hey
hey good to see your article..i am sameer from varanasi..do let me know when you visit next time.. take care.. :)