VARANASI
Varanasi is spectacularly old. It’s Hindu’s holiest site and pilgrims have been making the trek to the ghats and bathe in the Ganges for 1,000s of years. So the local tourism industry has a bit of an advantage over weary travelers exiting a night train where they had very little sleep. However strong the toutness factor was in Varanasi, the city is so ancient and overpowering that nothing can diminish the wonderful visit.
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The best way to see Varanasi is via a boat ride up and down the Ganges to watch the morning activities. Bathers had congregated in certain areas and were dunking themeslves in the water. After the boat ride I had an appreciation for the scale of the Varanasi ghats. India's greatest strength and weakness is the sheer size of it’s population - a few ghats with a few people around would have been a bit underwhelming - but two miles of ghats with thousands of people is simply astounding.
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The scale of the ghats overwhelming and volume of activity is exhausting.
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I spent the rest of the day walking up and down the ghats. At the northern end of the ghats is the burning ghat where bodies are cremated and the ashes placed into the Ganges. The burning is a 24/7 process. Sixteen fires were going at once when I arrived at a viewing platform. Three layers of logs are stacked and the body, after being dipped in the Ganges is placed on top, and then covered with another layer of logs. The touts were strong in this area evidently denying any forms of bad karma generation. There were people panning for gold and silver at the spot where the ashes are placed in the Ganges - apparently it’s finders, keepers if the families of the deceased do not remove all teeth fillings before cremation.
Out of respect for the dead and the process you aren't allowed to take photos - supposedly. Or if someone saw you taking photos they would threaten to report you to local cops unless you gave them a fee. Easier to just not take photos. I did take one photo while on the boat ride earlier in the day - the bottom right photo.
Out of respect for the dead and the process you aren't allowed to take photos - supposedly. Or if someone saw you taking photos they would threaten to report you to local cops unless you gave them a fee. Easier to just not take photos. I did take one photo while on the boat ride earlier in the day - the bottom right photo.
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The rest of the day was spent watching life on the Varanasi Ghats. Kids were flying kites and playing cricket. It was impressive that a game of cricket could be played on the relatively narrow ghats walkways. At one ghat there was a herd of twenty cows. A restaurant on the far southern end served good pizza. There were several aggressive handshakes whereby a back rub was almost performed against my will. I took several brotherliness photos and for once actually had a pleasant Q&A with a local who wanted to practice English.
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At night there is a long but entertaining performance at the main ghat. It’s a noisy spectacle. In spite of all the tourists around and constant flashing of cameras there was an authentic feel to the performance - someone did come around with a collection basket but it felt like I was watching a religious performance instead of a theatrical performance so I made a contribution.
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SARNATH
An hour tuk tuk ride away from Varanasi is Sarnath - one of Buddhism’s holiest sites where the Buddha gave his first “sermon” after attaining enlightenment. Sarnath has a giant stupa but otherwise it’s a bunch a bricks scatter along the ground where academic buildings previously stood. To attain enlightenment you walk around the stupa with prayer beads in your hand.
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For additional Varanasi and Sarnath photos see FLICKR ALBUM.