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The great grey greasy Ganga river...
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Greetings! Haven't had a chance to get near a puter to give you an update until now so need to back track a little bit....
We managed to survive Agra without any poisoning (!) and next stop was Varanasi. Like Agra, we'd heard quite a few mixed reports of the city from travellers we'd met along the way - one aussie couple nicknamed it 'Very Nasty' on account of tout hassles, scams, the usual stuff, but others had said it was fascinating and a must-see, so we thought we'd make up our own mind...
Varanasi is included on the tourist trail as it is one of the holiest cities in India, and apparently one of the oldest living cities in the world (has existed since 1400 BC) - its big draw card is its location - on the banks of the sacred river Ganga. Hindu pilgrims come from all over India to wash away their sins in its holy water.
Our first impressions of the city weren't so good - agressive rickshaw drivers who wouldn't take us to the guesthouse we requested, badly congested roads, smelly narrow alleyways and the usual oversupply of cows...however, the guesthouse we ended up in was actually OK, and once we made it through the narrow maze-like alleys down to the river we could wander freely along the bank of the Ganga (of course accompanied by little kids selling postcards, boat owners, masseurs etc) and observe the various activities going on.
We were invited to sit with some friendly tourist police to watch the nightly sunset prayer ritual, which involved lots of chanting, incense and fire which wowed the crowd of mainly Indian tourists who gathered to enjoy the show - really impressive.
Next morning we dragged ourselves out of bed for a sunrise trip in a row boat to watch hundreds of people praying, bathing, washing clothes, meditating and swimming in the Ganges...they all seemed to be in good health which is quite amazing considering the water is filthy - three flows of raw sewage pump into this small stretch of the river.
There were eight of us packed into a rather rickety-looking row boat and I was doing my own silent prayer that we didn't capsize or spring a leak as I was certainly not keen on taking a holy dip in the bacteria-infested water, holy or not!!
Many Hindus make the journey to Varanasi their last - they believe that if you are lucky enough to die in Varanasi, you are rewarded with 'moska' - freedom from reincarnation - which is apparently a much sought after state, judging by the numbers of elderly living in hospices right on the river.
There are several burning ghats along the banks of the Ganges, where cremations take place - not surprisingly - almost non-stop, and in a very public setting. With some trepidation, we wandered down to the main burning ghat one afternoon to learn a bit more about the process. We'd been assured by others at our guest house that a 'helpful little man' would find us and give us a bit of a spiel in exchange for a 'donation'. Sure enough, we were quickly spotted and escorted up to a 'tourist viewing platform''. As the little man explained the process, we watched as several bodies, clad in golden sheets draped with marigolds, were carried down to the river bank on wooden strechers and dipped in the Ganges before being placed on a funeral pyre, where various rituals were carried out before the fire was lit. There were seven or eight cremations in progress and another few being prepared, and as these very intimate rituals were carried out life carried on all around - cows and water buffalos weaved in and out of the fires, dogs sniffed around, kids played and family members stood about, not showing any visible sign or emotion or grief. Our man explained that crying isn't allowed at the cremation, therefore women - the emotional ones, of course - usually have to stay at home. Thankfully, the practise of wives throwing themselves on their husbands'' funeral pyres was abandoned around eighty years ago, but does still occasionally occur. So the whole experience was quite odd - shocking in one sense, but at the same time quite detached and removed from the kind of emotion we would usually associate with death and cremation.
There were several young guys swimming very close to where the cremations were taking place, and our man explained that once the bodies have burned for a couple of hours, a piece of corpse is taken and put in the Ganges - so rings, jewellery and gold teeth occasionally make their way into the river, and are then up for grabs! With around 250 cremations happening at this ghat every day, the likelihood of getting lucky must be reasonably high...! Rather them than us...
After our guy had finished his explanation (which was, admittedly, quite good) we gave our donation to an old woman ("No, no money for me, I don't want to break my karma" our guy insisted...then five minutes later he was chasing us down the river bank asking for money for his kids..."but what about your karma?" I said, but he seemed to have forgotten about that...)
Aside from observing life and death rituals on the riverbank, we spent the rest of our time in Varanasi visiting some temples and shrines, and watching monkeys scampering about and kids flying home-made kites from rooft-top cafes (most of which come complete with monkey-proof cages!)
We're definitely pleased we came - just seeing how revered and sacred the river is to Hindus was really fascinating and we learned a lot.
Right better stop, will try and start the next entry now - from Darjeeling...
Hope all is good,
luv A&C xx
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| 6. | The great grey greasy Ganga river... - Varanasi, India Dec 08, 2006 (  8 ) |
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