Making the pilgrimage to Varanasi

Varanasi. For months now I had heard Horror stories and love stories of Varanasi. It seemed like the melting pot of India and I had to see it for myself. They say you either fall in love with India or you run screaming vowing never to return. India for me has definatly been a working holiday. And it has been a realatioship that changes ten times a day of wether I love it or will vow never to return. So it seemed that Varanasi might be the bridging point of India for me. I really didn't know what expect, other then hearing so much on both sides of the table. It seemed a testing ground to what side of the table I sat on with India, or weather we would sit the table at all ever again.

Varanasi is the holiest city in all of India. It also resides on the holiest river in all of the world. The Ganges (pronounced Gonga) a broad and wide river that is sought out by Hindus from all over India. Which is a few hundred million. Some say it is the oldest city in the world. And others that it is visited by more Indian pilgrims then any other place in India year round. Hindus come to the river to wash they're sins away. They call the river they're "mother". On average 60,000 Hindus are down at the river every day at the bathing Ghats washing they're sins away. It is a sight to see. And one you will never forget.

The far side or opposite shore of the Ganges is a vast flood plain and beyond is all country rolling out for kilometers to the horizon, till it disappears into the heat and the haze of India. The city side of the Ganges is ringed with buttressed and fluted towered buildings and temples up and down the shore for over 3 kilometers. the buildings are old, stained and in some disrepair. Below them are the hundred or so bathing ghats and burning ghats. The bathing Ghats are usually an upper concrete platform with umbrellas to sip chai under, eat, talk, and pray. Leading down from them are more stone stairs that either end in the river, depending on the current height. Or they stop on a wider stoop to undress on and enter the river to bath. Now hindus and indians are a colorfully dressed lot as it is. But hindus always bring orange carnations (flowers) for offerings. Either in looped ropes, wreaths, or just hand fulls of the petals themselves. The river and shore line is covered in streams of orange flower petals. they also set afloat banana leaf bowls filled with the petals and small prayer candels in the middle. So through out the day and night you see these little lite prayers making they're way down the Ganges.

On the river itself are dozens of rowboats ferrying about a few tourists but mainly hindus chanting, playing drums and feeding the masses of seagulls flying above the bigger boats. the ghats up and down are lined also with small herds of wild "holy" cows, sheperded Water buffalo and the lovelt pies they leave behind "Which one fella pointed at as a buffalo let loose and said 'is good luck my friend" alongside the cows and black water buffalo are many nibblin goats and terretorial ribbey dogs. you share the walks and the streets with all these guysas well or you make way for them occasionally. WE had a few buffalo go on a stampede right through the ghats when we were there. fortunatly no one was hurt miraculously.

There are also hundreds of people out washing and beating theyre cloths on the rocks out in the river. the shore lines and the ghats are lined with thousands of pairs of trousers, saris, white shirts, and everything and anything that needs to be washed. So though the color might be washed out of the older buildings. the Ghats are awash in color everywhere you turn. But it is a very holy place, so cameras can be a touchy issue and drawing as I would find out. But the color that sticks out the most is orange. And not because of the flower carnations everywhere. Sadus (holy men that have given up all possesion including family for a life of worship and begging) flock to varanasi in mass.

Sadu are a alike yet all different as well. they all wear orange and all have long hair more often then not in long dreadlocks that hang to they're waist. They also have long beards. Some well kept and groomed and others not so much so. The majority of them have painted faces of white, yellow, or orange with big colorful tikas marking they're Hindu denomination and even the caste they were born to. A lot can be read from the tika marked fore head. And I would say a quarter of the Sadu of the hundreds that were there. Walked around completly naked. Though they're bodies were were covered in ash top to bottom, that they would rub all over themselves. So they had a ghostly white appearance, naked, with long dread locks and a matching beard with painted faces. They were a sight to see. I actually sat in a tent with a few sadus and shared tea and biscuits with them for a morning breakfast. And they just sat there stark naked with not a care in the wold about it. To be honest I was pefectly comfortable with it as well. Sadus are also all peaceful, happy, and generaly very nice. Though they also all smoke out of a chillum all day. A really big pipe that they fill with opium and hash to reach spiritual enlightment. So you walk by these many, many colorful tents to see stoned naked sadus (laughing) as well as more then quite a few tavellers dressed and living the life of a stoned Sadu searhing for inner peace....Not my calling I guess.

Yes. Varanasi a colorful place where you are hip deep in the most intimate acts of Hinduism. There are two last acts of hindus in passing. The last they will make or they're family will make for them in this life.....Well if your Hindu, you'll go through this act many times I guess. As they are reincarnated from life to another better or pooer depending on the actions of this life. Any how, That last act takes place down at the burning ghats or out in the river itself. All hindus are cremated and along the Ganges in Varanasi. They follow tradition the same they have for hundreds of years back. Which is cremating those who have passed on alter like pyres of wood right out in the open next to the holy river Gonga. All day every day you watch as they chant while carrying down bamboo stretchers of the dead to the river. It is said to be cremated along the Ganges brings better luck in the next life and wipes away the sins of your past life. So many come here to be cremated. In fact the city can be over run with the sick and those on they're final legs of life. On average between the two main ghats there are 300 cremations each day.

The bodies are carried by family down to the river. (Just Men you hardly see any women at the burning ghats) they then wash the body(which is drapped in a orange Sari and ropes of orange carnations)The blanket is folded back to expose the face and the bamboo stretcher and body are prayed over as they lay out in the river and under water. There they sit till the pyre is ready. One street in from the Ghats and the river are companys that sell and split wood for the pyres. There are stacks of wood two stories tall everywhere, narrow corridors that are a maze of stacked wood. Sandal wood is the most prized and most expensive. But they weigh it all out exactly to be as economical as possible about it.

Once the pyre is ready they place the body on top. The orange Sari is removed and all the flower carnations are nibbled on by goats that are constantly shooed away by family, though all to no avail. The body itself underneath is wrapped in white linen (kind of like a mummy). It is then placed on top of the pyre with more wood stacked on top, only the feet and and head stick out on each end of the rectangular shaped pyre, From there a holy man prays a certain hindu prayer and does it with a burning brand of grass, circling the body seven times with the four to five pall bearers closely in tow chanting the same prayer. And finally the pyre is set alight.

The pyres burn for a good three to four hours. With family and many hindus standing or sitting closely watching. Strangely there is really no sorrow, sadness, or crying. In fact I never saw any one cry except for a few women in town sitting and waiting in a jeep. But that was different. They stand right in the smoke...well actually it's in escapable. you walk through it all day and even eat lunch to the smells of it. It didn't smell any different to me. Just another fire except the smoke is a bit denser and blacker. And every pyre has a professional fire tender. A man dressed in creamy white robes and a white turban usually. I never knew there was a profession as a professional fire tenderer. But if there was ever a call for one, this was surely it. They have a long bamboo stick that they use to tend the fire with, and shift the body around to. Always above the hottest point of the fire. they occasionally throw on a few more pieces of wood when needed. The last act of the burning pyre is to puncture in the skull with the bamboo pole to release the soul into nirvava.

I have always had a fear or burnt or burning bodies. So it took some time for me to get used to. Especially seeing hundreds of them each day. But for the hindus it is a part of life and the last act in this life. On my last night I sat and watched one up close for about an hour. A father and his two sons came and sat with me and shared companionable conversation for awhile. It was a moment of bittersweet calm. I don't know how. But there was a sense of peace to be found in it all.

The next day though over breakfast me and Eric watched as a row boat rowed a smaller orange Sari clad body out into the river with what looked like a father and son. When they reached the middle of the river, they pushed the body over the edge of the boat. One moment it was they're and the next it was gone. Weighted down with rocks it went to the bottom of the holy Ganges. If you die under the age of eighteen you are just put into the river. So this was some one who died young. Thus the jeep of weeping women. It was a hard thing to see. You watch with horror and fascination at the same time. And after you really don't know what to make of it. it just leaves you wih an empty feeling.

Which brings up one last view on Varanasi and the Holy Ganges river. All the ashes from the cremated bodies are swept and carried into the river. (Where in the morning you can see men sifting through the muddy waters looking for gold or jewelry) As well, many bodies are put into the river. Many of which resurface on the banks or can just be seen floating down river. Cows (which are holy) are also put in the river. So you see handfuls of them floating down the river every day. Also all the citys sewage is put right into the river untreated as well as most of the trash of the city. So here is a staggering statistic for you. Bathing water, not drinking water. needs to be under 500 parts bacteria per 100 ml of water (which is like one gulp). The Ganges has 1.5 million parts of Fecal Bacteria per 100 ml of water. But there they are out there. bathing in it, Swimming in it, brushing they're teeth with it.... I don't know what to tell you. I guess it's a step in faith. Make what you will of Varanasi. For me, ...... I loved it.