Varanasi

Varanasi is one of the holiest places in India. Hindu pilgrims come to the Ganges River (or River Ganga as it is called here)  to wash away their sins in the water or to cremate. Dying in Varanasi or being cremated here offers moksha (liberation from the life death cycle).

The first day in Varanasi was a huge change from south India and totally stimulating for the entire time. In the morning we took a auto-rickshaw to the Ganges and walked around, starting at the southern most ghat, the Assi Ghat and walking north along the Ganges River. Away from the water, there are many winding, narrow alleyways that are full of shops and restaurants. The monkeys use these narrow alleyways to their advantage and steal food from the offerings that people make to Ganesh (the Hindu elephant god). The great restaurants are easy to miss although they are worth being persistent and seeking out. For lunch we went to a place called the Brown Bread Bakery which is a restaurant associated with an NGO that supports a women's empowerment group and a school for children. Everything is organic and instead of chairs, there are cushions and low tables to hang out around.

In the evening, we went to a light festival called the Ganga Aarta on the water. We took a row boat out on the river as the sun was setting and the light ceremony was being set up. The first stop with our boat was the burning ghat in which people would bring their deceased relatives to be cremated on the shore of the Ganges. At this ghat you are not allowed to take photographs because of respect to the families. This ghat has a much quieter and somber mood compared to all the excitement at the other Ghats. Cremation happens at this ghat 24 hours a day and only the male members of the family are allowed to participate. Apparently the women cry too much and this means that the person does not have a good death. At this point I was really moved by how spiritual Hindu culture is in India and how different their perception to death is to that of western culture.

(piles of wood from the burning ghat)


After seeing the burning ghat we were taken back to the main ghat where the Ganga Aarta was being held. At this point I wished that I knew some more Hindi to better understand the chants. This ceremony featured fire and dance by 7 Hindu priests on shore. At the beginning of the Ganga Aarta, we each lit a lotus flower candle and set it adrift on the water. Before releasing the lotus flower candle you have to first think of someone dead then someone who is alive and make a wish for them. I thought that this was a good opportunity for me to be a part of the spirituality of Varanasi without sharing the same religion or beliefs.

When we returned to the hotel after a day at the ghats there was a wedding happening in the parking lot and the yard. I think that we must have shown up at the beginning of the wedding because the whole wedding party was having a dance party with an entire marching band in the parking lot before they actually entered the area where the wedding was set up. The bride was nowhere to be seen but the groom was the center of attention, dancing with the wedding party wearing a red and gold hat. I learned later that the bride was inside because there are particular steps that must be followed in an Indian wedding. Everyone seemed to be having a great time dancing together. I observed some Bollywood dances moves and also the typical corny dance moves from all weddings.

I was standing outside watching everything happen with a few of my friends and a man from the wedding approached me and asked me to join the wedding. He seemed to be the crazy brother and had to ask some of the family if I could join.  He took me over to meet the groom and some of the family. I felt really under dressed because I was not expecting to be going to a wedding but there was a warm welcome from the people in the wedding. I was told that I could come and join the actual wedding inside. I asked if the 3 other friends I was with could also come and they said that that was alright. We were about to go into the wedding when about 10 more of our friends showed up at the hotel and wanted to join the wedding as well. We thought that it would be too much of an imposition to get everyone into the wedding so we didn't end up going all the way in the wedding, however, we did dance with the band for a little while and entertained the wedding party.

On our second day in Varanasi we woke up at 5:00am to get to the Ganges for 6 and take a boat tour of the ghats in the morning. As the sun was setting the Ganges was full of activity. There were people meditating and praying along the shore, doing yoga, washing clothes, and bathing in the water. It was very beautiful and much more peaceful than the previous night.

We were dropped off on shore at the burning ghat and went to the Vishwanath Temple. It is the most popular Hindu temple in Varanasi which is also called the Golden Temple.
Later on we went to Saranath, where Buddha gave his first sermon. It was interesting to learn more about Buddism because Hinduism is the dominant religion in India. We also saw the Bendares Hindu University, which is the largest university in Asia. The campus was very calm and relaxing on a Friday afternoon and was a quiet break from the excitement of the ghats. The campus had wide tree-lined streets and plenty of park areas where students were studying, talking, and playing soccer and cricket.

Our last stop on the tour on the second day was at a place where they hand wove silk. I was surprised about how time consuming the whole process was. There was one man working at the silk loom and we were told that he worked 8 hour days and in such time he would make about 10 cm of the fabric. Each silk sari must take a very long time to make because each one has to be the same length. The benefit of making silk by hand as opposed to using a machine is that you can have more elaborate detail in the fabric.

After we were shown how the silk was made, we were taken to the shop next door. At this store they sold ties, scarves, bedding, and saris and they must have felt like they hit the jackpot having such a large group of tourists in their shop. The men who worked at this shop capitalized on the opportunity and pulled out so many items for us to look at. A very common saying here is "looking is free" because they know that if they show someone with money enough beautiful things a sale is very likely. There is a huge cushion on the floor and everyone sat around and told the sales people what they like and the sales people piled up one item after another until they found something to buy.

In the evening we took an auto-rickshaw back from dinner and what should have been a 20 minute ride turned into an hour drive that could only take 4 blocks from where we wanted to go. The reason for the unusually long drive was because there were so many weddings happening around the city. The streets were full of parades of people involved in the wedding. In the parades there were marching bands, big cars with huge music speakers, fireworks, and people carrying torches and lights over their heads. It was so exciting to see and I was almost glad to have a longer ride so that I could see the weddings. At points the traffic was literally stopped and our driver turned off the engine because the wedding events had taken up the street.

The last day in Varanasi was very relaxed. My friend Julie and I walked around the ghats for one last time, going back to some of our favourite places. Even though the water is very polluted I thought that I should take the opportunity to dip my feet into the Ganges.

On our way through one of alleyways to our favourite lunch place, the Brown Bread Bakery, we stopped in a shop that sold some cool hippy shirts that we liked. After picking out the shirts that we liked we were ready to start the bargaining process when the owner of the shop was insistent that we come and see his photo album in the next room. We did not want to stay in the shop too long but were too polite to refuse. He was so proud to show his pictures of Goldie Hawn (famous Hollywood actress and mother of Kate Hudson) in his store. According to the shop owner, every time Goldie Hawn comes to India (which is once every few years apparently) she comes to his store and buys pashminas. There was an old picture of the shop owner and Goldi Han from the 70s when the store owner had hair. There was also an entire photo album that the man had from one more recent visit that Goldie Hawn made to his store.