Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Tuesday May 5, 2009 - The Great Mother











Varansi, or Benares, as it used to be called (population 1,211,749) is one of the holiest cities in India. Hindu pilgrims come here to wash away their sins in the river. Despite being large, noisy, chaotic, mayhem, the city has a mystical feeling and many said it was one of the most interesting cities of this leg of the trip. It is said that Varansi is one of the oldest cities in the world having civilization for over 2000 years and dating back to 1400 B.C.

Up again early at 4:30 a.m. Early morning in the streets of Varansi before the hustle and bustle of the day begins, is a special moment. People are still sleeping on their out-door beds, or in the small one room homes with their legs sticking outside for coolness; others are just getting up, peeing, or brushing their teeth; the streets are quiet no rickshaws or taxis except for our small cavalcade of rickshaws. Everything is peaceful.

We travelled through the tiny little streets of the antique old city and came to our destination in the ghat area, alighted from our rickshaws, and walked through a maze of alleys or galis, down to the banks of the majestic Great Mother, the Ganges, by far the biggest river we have seen yet. Here the scene was different. About 60,00 pilgrims a day perform puja" in the waters of the Ganges. They cleanse themselves religiously in the water, then go up the steep steps to the temples above to pay their respects to their God, Shiva.

The scene is colourful and serene at this early hour as the sun slowly rises on the horizon on the far side of the river and after standing at the top of the steep flights of steps leading down to the water's edge for a few minutes allowing our eyes to take it all in, we walked slowly down to the ghats. Here we climbed on an old wooden sailless dhow-like boat and were rowed steadily along the shore (together with a ton of other tourists from all over the world) to get a better view and perspective of the long line of ghats by the side of the river. Some were elaborate temple like structures; others plain buildings but colourful; and yet another had partially sunk into the river when extra high rainfalls damaged it a few years ago. We chose our little posy of colourful pink blooms, lit the candle in the middle, and set it afloat on the river as a symbol of hope and good karma to present and future generations. We watched: people swimming; people learning to swim; people washing themselves clean; people washing clothes; people drinking; and we also watched others doing yoga, playing cricket, and offering blessings. Including the 80 plus bathing ghats along the river's edge there are also burning ghats where bodies are cremated in public, and you can see funnels of smoke rising above those ghats from the burning of the wood which is used for the cremation. Less appealing to see are the human remains floating in the river. Being able to watch the religious rituals of both life and death is humbling. If you ever come to Benares, book time to wander around this area. Its one of the world's most interesting "people-watching" sites, in my view.

As spiritual as life is along the Ganges, I also have to comment on the environmental issues. About 60,000 people a day wash in the river, clothes are washed in the river, human remains float in the river, water buffalo are washing in the river, city sewers empty into the river, with the result that the Ganges is highly polluted. In fact people say the water is actually septic. According to Lonely Plant, about 1.5 million faecal coli form bacteria per 100 ml compared to a figure of less than 500 which is the "safe" bathing figure Attempts are underway to "clean up" the water, but there are many road blocks. The concern of all of this is that it causes water diseases which run rampant in the villages that use the river water.

The rest of our day in Varansi was spent looking at 3 temples. The modern Tulsi Manas Temple, the Bharat Mafa Temple with its marble map of the Indian sub-continent, and the Monkey Temle. What can I say, I would rather have been wandering the galis in the ghat area.

We ate dinner in the beautifully majestic garden of our hotel, a peaceful oasis in the middle of an otherwise hectic city, called Alanna in Canada, e-mailed our travel agent re our China-Russia trip, and fell into bed around 12:30 with about 4 hours left for sleep before our 5:00 a.m. rise the next day.

3 comments:

Randall said...

Wow. What a series of memorable images and experiences!

I'm not sure that you aren't lucky that you were not seen by a tiger, while driving in a jeep. You might have been. They hide really well. As I recall the doors of jeeps are pretty unsubstantial.

Hope you are fully recovered Ray.

Let's hope it is cooler in the mountains. I'll try to find the weather in Kathmandu.

The flu epidemic seems to be petering out. Some Canadians were kept in quarantine in China for a week or so and only let out today.

It sounds like this trip has been more trying than expected, and now there are troubles with your connecting arrangements. You can always come home and trek across Russia another time. What would that be like in winter!!

Randall.

Randall said...

Kathmandu forecasts are for mid thirties highs, but 20 C cooler at night. Everest Base Camp high this week is around -5C.

Randall said...

I think it will difficult to top the puja and the Ganges for experiences that expand your view of the world. On to the next adventure!