Varanasi

The Streets of Varanasi
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Varanasi

Arriving in Varanasi, one of the spiritual centres of India, at around 9 am I prepare for the quick jump off the train. Getting off a train is like a sporting competition, can I get off before the other passengers get on and before the train leaves the station (which is often only a couple of minutes)?

Those who wish to get off at the next station prepare long before the stop in order to be in prime position to exit quickly. Dutifully we queued prior to the stop and as it arrived I jumped off onto the platform, only second to the rickshaw driver who had run alongside and jumped on at the beginning of the platform to tout for business when the train first arrived. As I hit the platform I realised that I had left my day pack on the train and have to climb back on much to the disgust of the passengers who were still trying to fight their way off through those trying to get on. As the bag contained my passport, laptop, credit cards etc I must say I was propelled with a sense of urgency that perhaps gave me an edge over my competitors.

A Local Traffic Cop
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After the obligatory rickshaw price haggle and a dusty ride through the streets of Varanasi we arrive at our chosen place of residence The Pallavi International Hotel. We were happy to find it is set back off the main road, and very quiet, which is a Godsend (Shiva, Hanuman or Ganesh, we’re not sure which one of the many). One of the hardest things to find in India can be peace, which is strangely ironic as so many people come here in search of inner peace yet paradoxically most of the external world here is the complete antithesis of it, so to retreat to a place where the sound of vehicle horn can no longer be heard is to stumble briefly into the place of Nirvana like beauty.

Bathing at the Ghats
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Pallavi International could be an amazing place to stay now and in 100 years time if it did not suffer from the plight of so many of India's wonderful buildings, that of being left to slowly decay. Maintenance here is just not a strong point for some reason. Is it that they just wait for things to become completely unusable and then just move on or build something else? It sometimes has me quite bemused.

The main attraction of Varanasi, apart from those who are looking for some of the best silk in the world, is the Ganges River otherwise known as the Ganga (pronounced like hunger) and its surrounding ghats,

View from one of our rickshaw rides.
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The Ganges is a supposedly a holy river and here it is THE holy river. To bathe in the Ganga is to wash away your sins and to relinquish your karma. The Ganga is not in good shape as rivers go; to say it is polluted is an understatement. Perhaps there is a strange correlation if not irony in bathing in filth to remove the accumulation of grime in the human soul. Countless pilgrims, Sadhus (holy men - often elaborately dressed possibly to emulate imaginary friends) and other holy people make their way to the Ganga in order to bathe and cleanse themselves.

A cow turd seller on one of the ghats, note the uniformity in size. Not unlike McDonalds burgers.
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Personally I did not bathe in the Ganga, however I did walk through some really disgusting thick brown sludge that was being pumped across one of the ghats into the river, as it oozed up over up over my shoes I did feel a little strange, and then upon reaching the other side of the muck a wave of relief washed over me, I think it was meaningful and that I was purged of much of my karmic debt, leaving only a small amount on my visa to be concerned with.

The Ghats

Altogether there are 80 ghats that line the Ganga. Some are distinct in that they have specific features, such as a heard of water buffalo which are kept their constantly, probably the chagrin of the buffalo themselves, not a lot of grass on a set of concrete steps.

Water buffalo on one of the ghats.
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Of these two are burning ghats. One which is slightly more modern in that bodies are cremated in a more western way in an oven, and the other, the traditional burning ghat where bodies are burnt on top of piles of wood. The amount of wood is carefully chosen as it takes a particular amount that will burn long enough (3hours) to consume a body. The usual amount is 120kgs. The wood is carried down on to the ghat and is stacked carefully in an approx 1.5 metre square.

Once the pile is almost complete the body, which is wrapped in clothe is brought out by the... and taken to the river where it is bathed. Once this is done it is taken and laid close to the wood pile. At this time the family, and particularly any women involved get to say their last words to the deceased. Women are not allowed to stay on the ghat during the burning of the body so they need to come, make their expression and then leave. A priest will perform a ceremony with any members of the family and then once complete the body is lifted on to the pile whereby the family may pour on two or three large bags of sandalwood powder before a little more wood is piled on top.

Pilgrims on the Ganga
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The main family member will then make their way up to an eternal flame, (yes like an RSL yet more organic) where they will ask for a small torch to light the funeral pyre.

A priest will then walk around the body five times and the family member then returns and lights the wood in several places and the cremation begins. As mentioned before it takes about 3 hours to burn a body and some parts like the chest of a man and the hips of a woman do not burn particularly well so if they do not completely incinerate they are tossed into the river. The other part that can be problematical is the skull. If this is still intact towards the end it is usually necessary to smash it in order to assist the breakdown.

A Sadhu dressed and made up for puja.
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For many this all may seem quite strange and probably morbid, I however find it quite a wonderful process and enjoyed watching it all take place and find it a far more rich and earthy process than the sterility of how things are done in the west. Removing ourselves from the reality of death and dying and hiding dead bodies away must have its consequences, it is after all going to happen to each of us. Perhaps if we were more in touch with death perhaps we would be more in touch with life.

Sadhus giving Angela the death stare for taking photos and not paying them.
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Of course I am not sure how it would go down if I set up a burning place at Eagle Street ghats, and we sent bodies off down the Brisbane River. I am guessing there may be a few complaints and I suspect Campbell Newman and co would have something to say thus getting approval could be difficult.

Many people cannot afford to pay to be burnt so they are taken out onto the river with rocks attached to them and where they are then tossed over the side and sink to the bottom. Thus at certain times you may see bodies that have started to decompose and are free of rocks and have consequently resurfaced and now float down the Ganga.

Puja ceremony
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The other spectacle we were able to witness was a puja (prayer and respect ceremony) that took place on one of the ghats. The place was thronging with hawkers trying to sell anyone anything that moved sadhus who had made the pilgrimage especially and had dressed for the occasion. The ceremony itself was extremely colourful as everything in India is and it was televised around the country. It was nice to be immersed in something that is obviously important to the whole country and to observe ritual tradition on a mass scale.

More Monkey Business

Sitting in our room one night. With the window open enjoying the cool night air, realise the presence of an imminent visitor. No doubt the smell of our food drifting from the room had attracted our unwanted guest who was just preparing to make the leap from the opposite rooftop into our room. Monkeys are so bold, brazen and fast that you can easily be taken by surprise. You may see them in the distance on a rooftop and before you know it they are right there. Remaining vigilant to their presence is something you must learn here.

Rickunsure

We decide to go out for dinner as Angela has found a restaurant that she would like to eat at so we set off walking as we are told is not far away. After a short while we seem no closer to our destination. We decide to catch a cycle rickshaw and make it a bit easier on ourselves. We ask the driver if he knows the place, he says yes and off we go.

After 10 mins. of vigorous pedaling he pulls over and asks someone directions, this is never a good sign. We continue on for another 15 mins or so and then he stops and asks again now we realise that between the three of us we have no clue where we are. Eventually we persuade our intrepid rider to stop the rickshaw and let us off so that we can work out where we are. This he does reluctantly and we offer him our previously agreed price. He is not happy with this as he has peddled and pushed his guts out to spend a long time taking us a nowhere; however the benefit of always agreeing a price beforehand is brought home once again.

Bicycle rickshaw riding must be one of the hardest things to do. The streets are smelly and dusty, everyone wants it as cheap as they can you have no acceleration in chaotic traffic (often contributed to by carrying more people or objects than would be reasonable.

Varanasi is our last stop in the north which I must say I am pleased about. I am ready for some serious R&R in the south. Next stop Chennai.