Well, we made it at last to Varanasi, and rebelled when our rep – the poor frozen man at the station – told us that our guide would pick us up at 6.30 am the next foggy, freezing cold morning for a boat ride. Not for us after that exhausting train journey.
We therefore started our day in a more leisurely way at a wonderful Durga temple (no pictures), one of the very few which will let non-Hindus in. We visited Sarnat, the place where the Buddha began his teaching, according to legend, and then this memorial was built by Ashoka in the third century BC.
There is a marvellous stoupa around which pilgrims walk as fast as they can:
I am ignorant about Buddhism but people seem to be carrying prayer beads and the man at the front appears to be carrying a religious thing:
People prayed in front of the stoupa, getting up and down with speed despite their age:
We went next door to the museum where the greatest treasure excavated from the grounds was this wonderful lion capital (on the banknotes) that was, once upon a time, perched on top of an enormous pillar. It’s made of sandstone and nobody knows how it was made shiny – and that’s third century BCE!
Next came a walk along the ghats (river bank palaces with steps going down to the water) which are spread along one side of the Ganges. These were built by royal families in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Each ghat is different with different religious activities taking place
Varanasi is purported to be founded by Shiva as the City of Light so each ghat has its own shiva lingam – as did our hotel:
Because it’s believed that anyone who dies in Varanasi or is cremated here attains instant moksha (enlightenment), in the town there are parties of mourners carrying dead bodies on their shoulders (the bodies are on stretchers, dressed in white cotton or silk and then covered in coloured cloth for decoration) going to the ghats.
Two ghats are set aside for cremation – we went to the smaller one where bodies are burnt either on wooden structures or on the banks:
There are many other rituals going on in different places. People will bathe (usually in the morning) in the Ganges, make offerings and so on:
We saw a cow being blessed, people having their heads shaved (the chief mourner has his head shaved before the ceremony) and other mysterious things going on:
But it’s not at all solemn. Kids fly kites, play cricket and animals roam freely, fed by the local people:
Lots of boats go up and down the river all the time, and boats are built at some of the ghats:
And in the evening (and the morning – which we missed) comes aarti or communal prayer – a performance that has become rather less magical and more tightly organised because of the numbers going to see it.
Nevertheless it was a great show beginning with the dressing of Shiva in human form:
The performance was full of singing and bells and smoke and fire, as the priests blessed the very full audience (also on boats in the river):
We left Varanasi pleased that we had come. But at the airport – a scene of chaos because of the fog and subsequent cancellations – our porcupine (bought from the potter) was confiscated, and our clay tiger broken by the security guard. So we left something of ourselves in Varanasi.
How to pronounce “ghat”?
Gut
Great pics. I didn’t really like Varanasi (about 35 years ago). I found the presence of so much death a bit oppressive. Also, my understanding is that if someone dies of an infectious disease they chuck the bodies in the river and you can see them float past, sometimes with crows on. Then people try and make you drink the water because holy. I tend to think there must be some magic in the Ganges otherwise everyone who goes there would be dead. There was a monkey temple as I recall?
People did seem very moved by the Ganges even though by all accounts it’s massively polluted and dirty. We went to the monkey temple – named as such by tourists according to our guide. It’s a beautiful red and gold temple to Durga – we were allowed in but definitely no photos.
Looks like your hotel had a nice roof tearrace from which to observe the ceremonies on the ghat without having to get down and dirty. Great shame that you have been deprived of your terracotta figures. Why on earth would a clay figure be confiscated? Do you think it made a nice present for some security guard’s girlfirend (or boyfriend)?
The hotels location was great – it had a terrace you could watch things from and our room was at the front so we also had a good view of the river activity. The porcupine was confiscated because it had spikes and could, at a stretch, have been used as a weapon though the clay would have crumbled at the first blow – maybe just threatening someone ( the pilot?) with a small spiked clay animal was just too much of a risk?
I too was wondering why the confiscation – sacred properties of porcupine? Sympathies… The videos are great – really helps convey the full sound and smoke experience!
See answer above on the porcupine threat and associated risk assessment. The videos do capture the drama – I particularly liked the incense, bells and flames combo.
Can’t believe you only spent a day in Varanasi. A most extraordinary place. It requires a minimum of four days! Whatup ladies?
You’re probably right ( and we’d lost half a day because of the flight cancellation) but I’d certainly had enough by the time we left!
Something mysterious in Varanasi.
Sorry about your mementos being confiscated, broken…
Good pictures
Definitely a mysterious place – mixture of great spirituality and straight hucksterism I suspect…
Varanasi is such an evocative and amazing place. Your pictures are wonderful. Like Alison I was there many years ago – about 40 years ago – and felt overwhelmed. Whilst being rowed along the river I did see a dead body and several dead animals! My boatman told me he drank the water every day but if I drank it I would get sick and die! And so dear reader I did not drink!
How extremely sensible of you! I’m cautious about swallowing water when I’m showering in India!
So glad you made it to Varanesi and it does (still) look amazing. It sounds as if you made the most of your time there. You’ve probably read Eric Newby’s Slowly Down the Ganges, but I just finished it and you do get the impression that an awful lot of dead bodies used to float on the river – and that the water remained miraculously uncontaminated. His journey in the `60s makes yours look like a doddle! You both look as if you can’t wait to get back to North London and a hot bath….I’m sorry there won’t be any more blogs for now.
Sounds like I’ll have to read Slowly … though I think they’re not allowed to dispose of dead bodies in that way anymore – we saw a rather nifty river cleaner motoring up and down and, in general, it looked pretty tidy, though you still couldn’t persuade me to buy a masala chai by the river. The return to central heating was welcome!