Varanasi, April 23-24, 2008
Varanasi is an amazing city, and is considered to be the world’s oldest living city. We have been told that to visit Varanasi is to visit the “real India”.
First and foremost, Varanasi is a religious shrine. It is one of the micas for Hindu’s, and the place to which they make pilgrimages. It is also the birthplace of Buddhism, as well as being a major center of Jainism, an offshoot of Hinduism. Two and a half million people live in the confluence of the Varan and Asi Rivers, two major tributaries to the amazing Ganges River, which flows down the eastern border of the city.
The Ganges River is the life of Hinduism, and the life of this city. One of the three major deities in Hinduism, Shiva, the Destroyer and Re-Creator, calls Varanasi home. Everyday, an average of 15,000+ pilgrims visit the city, primarily to wash in the river at sunrise, symbolizing cleansing and rebirth. Also, as it is Hindu practice to cremate all dead bodies on an open flame, the most holy place to do so is alongside the river of the god (the Re-Creator) that will send your soul back to another body; everyday, there are 150+ cremations on fires next to the river, with the ashes being scattered in the passing holy water.
After settling into our hotel, we took a bus and then a rickshaw
ride to the river. Once again, the streets of an Indian city were simply overwhelming. Everything (you can imagine) is up close and in your face. Once reaching the river, we boarded a row boat for a sunset cruise (“cruise” oversells it just a bit; ‘rowboat ride’ is better).
There are 84 Ghats along the river; “ghat” literally means “bath”, but has been taken to mean the concrete steps that descend into the river. There, both pilgrims and locals alike were swimming and enjoying the evening. We rowed downstream to see the main cremation site, where fires burn nonstop. Fifteen fires were burning as we watched from a distance on the river, an experience that felt very invasive considering the mourning families that were staring into the flames. Our guide gave us a complete overview of the meaning and ritual of death and mourning in Hinduism, a story that was quite powerful as we were seeing it unfold from our seats on the Ganges. We soon rowed back to the central area, where Hindu priests were holding their regular evening services for the gathered thousands.
As we left the river around 8 PM for another wild rickshaw ride (see the video), we noted that it would not be too long before we were back on the Ganges. The 4:45 AM wakeup call the next day felt even earlier, and we were soon back on another
rowboat for a sunrise experience on the Ganges.
Those in the water the evening before were merely swimming. Those in the water this morning were taking a sacred bath, the primary reason for making the pilgrimage to the city. Much has been written about the (poor) water quality of the river, but the local idea is that any pollution of the Ganges is just the opinion of
some scientists
On our stroll back away from the water’s edge, we stopped by the main temple of Shiva. The original temple was destroyed by the nasty Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (son and imprisoner of Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal); he built a mosque in its place, and then Hindu’s later re-built the shrine to Shiva next door. Varanasi is 30% Islamic, and these two religions worship side-by-side, albeit under tight security.
After breakfast, we headed to Sarnath, where Buddha preached his first lesson to his five disciples (and explained the 8-fold path). Varanasi was a Mecca then (in the 6th century BC), so Buddha came here during his own search. At the nearby museum, we saw the famous four-headed lion (representing Buddha’s four noble truths), sitting atop Buddha’s wheel of dharma. Here in this primarily Hindu nation, this symbol from Buddhism is on both the Indian flag and every denomination of the rupee (quite interesting).
Although it was only 11 AM, we were done with touring for the day. Whether the early mornings of the last week, or the end of a lot of travel, we were all whipped. After a somewhat comatose lunch, we headed back to the airport for our flight to Delhi.
