Thursday May 24, Varanasi

Heading down the Ganges at 5:00 am

Orange fire from the burning ghats reflecting in the water. Jan and Michelle

Nicki on the Ganges

Aarthi

We wake before dawn to be taken down the river in a row boat. The early morning Ganges is the epitome of serenity. We see early morning bathers as well as those doing their morning ablutions. There are dozens of ghats—sets of steps running down to the water’s edge. They are usually associated with a temple, crematorium or a fort. We leave from Assi Ghat, the southernmost ghat. We also see people washing their clothes by slapping them against rocks on the riverside. Yogins practice their various stretches and strengthening techniques. Many pray in and beside the water.

A few of the ghats are prepared for cremations. There are stacks of logs and brush ready to be placed along the river. Bodies are placed on the logs and then amid prayers and chants. Then they are set on fire. After the site is reduced to ashes, they are placed into the Ganges. Devout Hindus believe that if they die and ashes placed in the Ganges, their sins are literally washed away. The Ganges (locally called Ganga) is a god who purifies. There is a quite beautiful story about how the Ganges River came down to earth from heaven.

After breakfast, a guide takes us to some of Varanasi’s significant temples. We are first taken to the new Golden Temple (new Vishwanath temple) on the campus of Banares Hindu University (BHU), the largest university campus in Asia. The temple has several shrines but most of the space is open area used for people to pray, talk, study or rest. There are wonderful sayings on the wall from the Bhagavad Gita, other parts of the Mahabharata, Ramayana, the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and the Dhammapada.

Our next stop is  the Monkey Temple, more properly known as the Sankat Mochan temple. It is dedicated to Hanuman, the brave monkey-god hero of the Ramayana. Here you can pray before an image of Hanuman for to relieve your troubles. Upon entering the grounds, you pass through an avenue where dozens of monkeys frolic among the trees and fences of the compound.

The third temple is dedicated to the writer of the Hindi version of the Ramayana, Tulsi, who lived here while compiling this text. The entire text is inscribed on the walls of the temple.

The fourth temple is in old Varanasi; it is the old Golden Temple or Kashi Viswinath Temple, so called because of the vast amounts of gold on its dome. It is, perhaps, the most sacred of all the Varanesi temples. There is a tremendous crush of worshippers in narrow, alley-like streets. The security is tight because of conflict between extreme Hindus and Muslims. The crowds and demand for our passports defeat us. We settle for a close view of the dome from some steps in the alley.

The 44 degree temperature makes venturing out this afternoon difficult. Nevertheless, Sarah and Jan explore the ghats and some of the market areas away from the river. They encounter silk merchants, cows swimming in the Ganges, kids playing Ludo, and snake charmers.

In the evening we take to the river again. We accidentally row over a corpse in the river. The poor want a Ganges burial, but can’t afford the cremation fees at the ghats, so they place the dead in the river. Some other people such as the most holy and pregnant women are also placed into the river without cremation. We glide past the funeral pyres as dusk settles and dozens of bats zip around our heads. We moor alongside dozens of other boats to watch a worship ritual. Five men use bells, smoke and fire in a highly symbollic ritual called Ganga aarathi.

Varanasi, once called Kashi and then Benares, is one of the oldest cities in the world. Some Hindus believe that the city was founded by Shiva as a peaceful place for him to pray. Shiva’s dance at the end of time will take place here.