Come on in... the water's lovely!
Another overnight train (we've stopped even packing for these and just bring a book and toothbrush!) brought us to the holy city of Varanasi. In India, Varanasi is widely considered the most holy place for Hindus, because the great Ganges River changes direction in this place only - it reverses it's flow to run South to North along the banks in Varanasi. For this reason, most Hindus want to be cremated on the banks of the Ganges and have their ashes put into the river. When we arrived in the city, we took a sunset boat cruise. We took part in the ancient tradition of lighting candles and setting them adrift on the river while making a wish. This tradition started when single women would light a candle and wish for a husband, and if the candle stayed lit all the way across the river, their wish would be granted. Us modern women wished for other things more practical things, I think!, but regardless it was a beautiful ceremony (especially since you couldn't see the colour of the Ganges at night!).
While on this cruise we also saw the nightly prayer ceremony that takes place on one of the ghats (sections of the riverbank). We also saw the massive cremation fires burning in the distance. In Varanasi, cremations occur around the clock, 365 days of the year. The next morning, we were back in a boat for sunrise on Mama Ganga (as the natives call it). This is when the riverbanks really come to life. There are people EVERYWHERE. The are bathing, swimming, washing, dumping garbage, washing their water buffaloes, performing holy ceremonies, gossiping, and burning the dead... all before 7am! You could sit for hours and just watch people live their lives along the banks of the river! (See in the sunrise photo... there is a guy going for his morning swim in the dirty water like it was a wave pool!). I really really liked it in Varanasi. My days there were spent wandering through the shops (including the many GOVERMENT owned and sponsored bhang shops which sell pure hash), wandering along the ghats, and watching as the locals put up lights everywhere in anticipation of the largest Hindu holiday - Diwali (like Hindu Christmas!). One night while wandering, Anjli and I accidentally stumbled upon one of the main funeral ghats. At first we didn't know where we were, but then I saw the massive stacks of firewood everywhere and when we looked around, sure enough we saw a dead body wrapped in cloth. The priest was putting it on the pyre and the family were putting logs on top. It was sooooo eerie, as I have never seen a dead body that close and that informally. Death and cremation is such a daily occurrence here that we were invited to sit on the steps of the river for a front row seat to the cremation (we declined!). We saw many more cremations after that one in the following days, but that image will stay with me forever! Another image that Mars and I won't forget is the early morning rise that we endured to go with Anjli to the banks of the Ganges. Anjli is a Hindu, and so she was compelled to take a dip in this holiest of spots. We watched (and filmed) as she waded in and dunked herself under three times (per tradition) - we are still waiting to hear if she became violently ill in the week that followed!
L to R: A sunrise swim in the Ganges!; a funeral ghat with lots of firewood; the busy streets of Varanasi (see the stray cows everywhere!); life on the banks of the river; a local girl doing washing.
While on this cruise we also saw the nightly prayer ceremony that takes place on one of the ghats (sections of the riverbank). We also saw the massive cremation fires burning in the distance. In Varanasi, cremations occur around the clock, 365 days of the year. The next morning, we were back in a boat for sunrise on Mama Ganga (as the natives call it). This is when the riverbanks really come to life. There are people EVERYWHERE. The are bathing, swimming, washing, dumping garbage, washing their water buffaloes, performing holy ceremonies, gossiping, and burning the dead... all before 7am! You could sit for hours and just watch people live their lives along the banks of the river! (See in the sunrise photo... there is a guy going for his morning swim in the dirty water like it was a wave pool!). I really really liked it in Varanasi. My days there were spent wandering through the shops (including the many GOVERMENT owned and sponsored bhang shops which sell pure hash), wandering along the ghats, and watching as the locals put up lights everywhere in anticipation of the largest Hindu holiday - Diwali (like Hindu Christmas!). One night while wandering, Anjli and I accidentally stumbled upon one of the main funeral ghats. At first we didn't know where we were, but then I saw the massive stacks of firewood everywhere and when we looked around, sure enough we saw a dead body wrapped in cloth. The priest was putting it on the pyre and the family were putting logs on top. It was sooooo eerie, as I have never seen a dead body that close and that informally. Death and cremation is such a daily occurrence here that we were invited to sit on the steps of the river for a front row seat to the cremation (we declined!). We saw many more cremations after that one in the following days, but that image will stay with me forever! Another image that Mars and I won't forget is the early morning rise that we endured to go with Anjli to the banks of the Ganges. Anjli is a Hindu, and so she was compelled to take a dip in this holiest of spots. We watched (and filmed) as she waded in and dunked herself under three times (per tradition) - we are still waiting to hear if she became violently ill in the week that followed!
L to R: A sunrise swim in the Ganges!; a funeral ghat with lots of firewood; the busy streets of Varanasi (see the stray cows everywhere!); life on the banks of the river; a local girl doing washing.
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