The Holy Ganges
Trip Start
Sep 18, 2004
1
64
69
Trip End
Jun 05, 2005
Varanasi,
India
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Impression of Varanasi
Varanasi, where the Ganges river meets the Varuna river, is an important holy site for Hindus. There are many ghats, or steps, going into the river along the river bank. At dawn and dusk, the river bank is teeming with activities. You'll find dhobiwallas (laundry man) doing laundry, people swimming and bathing in the water, and kids playing cricket. The old neighborhood along the river is made of mostly old decaying buildings with narrow alleys, where wedding and funeral processions are a common sight.
Burning Ghat
Perhaps the most intersting thing we saw in Varanasi was the burning ghat
01. Old Varinasi is a warren of narrow streets.
. For most Hindus, Manikamika Ghat is the most auspicious place to be cremated. According to our unofficial guide, about 400 bodies are cremated at this ghat everyday. Hindus from all over the world bring bodies of their loved ones to this ghat. Tourists are allowed to observe the ghat, but no photography is permitted (rightfully so!). Since it's an auspicious place for the deseased, the relatives are supposed to rejoice for the dead one and no mourning is allowed. The logic goes that the women cannot contain their tears, so the women are not allowed at the ghat. Only the male relatives are allowed to accompany the body to the ghat. At the ghat, the body is first doused in the Ganges. Some of the male relatives then get their heads shaved. The body is then placed on one of the wood piles and cremated. Every wood pile is carefully weighed and billed. Maybe up to ten piles can be going at the same time. The cremation takes about three hours. Any of the left over bone fragments are thrown into the Ganges. Nelly's first Indian Massage
We befriended an Indian woman who ran a restaurant near our guesthouse. In India, it seems to us that most business are run by men. The few female shop owners that we have met were always very nice. It was always so refreshing to see a woman running the shop. This woman told me that she also does Indian Massage, and I thought I'd give it a try.
She led me upstairs to her bedroom. Her husband, with nothing but a towel draped over his important parts, was sleeping on the floor. She woke him up to make him leave the room. He got up and changed in front of me. After he left, she asked me to change into a robe
01. The ghats of Varinasi.
. Unfortunately the robe she had in mind was wet, instead she gave me a night gown, which she fished out of a pile of clothes and blankets on the unkempt bed. After I changed into the oversize night gown, her husband showed up briefly again and finally left for good. We then went outside because she wanted me to take a facial steam for a couple of minutes. We returned to her bedroom and I had to strip down again so she could massage me. The massage was good, but the whole time she had her TV on so she could watch TV while massaging me. After the massage, we drank Chai, watched TV and chatted for awhile. Although it was not a "tranquil" experience, it was interesting to be talking to the woman, whose marriage was not arranged but a love marriage. Yoga class in Varanasi
Jesse's turn to narate again.
Since we were going to be in Varinasi for 5-6 days, we figured this would be a good place to practice some yoga. There are a number of yoga "schools" around Varinasi. We stopped by a few to get times and prices. They were all on the 2nd or 3rd floor of peoples houses and were pretty dingy rooms with some rugs on the floor covered by a nasty white sheet.
02. Bathers in the Ganges river.
First you must understand that the yoga studio we go to at home is clean with hardwood floors, plenty of mats and any props you might need to safely assume any pose. The instructors are all very good and are intent on getting you to do the pose properly but without destroying your body.
Welllllll not so in India. We chose the only studio that was run by a female, since we tend to like the female instructors at home. So we show up 5 minutes before the appointed time, were shown into the dingy stdio and sat down on the very dusty, dirty, and hole ridden sheet to wait. And wait we did. After a complementary chai and some toe tapping, our instructor comes breathlessly into the room 45 minutes late.
She proceeds to tell us that she lives by the University, as she puts it she lives in "the High Society." Not in the this cow pattie ridden narrow allies of the old city. So with nose pointed up she asks us what Yoga we know. We explain that we practice Iyengar, so she figures she'll show us some Pranayam. Essentially the art of breathing.
Soooo, first we stand in front of a picture of a lingam (phallic statue) representing Shiva, whom she says created yoga
03. One of the not so busy ghats.
. Now, put your hands together like so (we look and do like so) now chant after me. Ommmmmmmmm ManilakiHineShiva hocuspocus. So we mimic her chanting for a few minutes. Now open your eyes. Eyes open. Now touch Shiva. huh? Touch Shiva. Ummm, it's a photo of a phallic statue. Touch Shiva. So we touch the photograph and then touch our head.Ok, oddities done with she jumps to the center of the room. Do you want me to tell you about yoga or just start practicing? We look dumbly at each other. Uhhh teach us about yoga. Out comes her lecture voice and we rotate back to the picture of Shiva's lingam. (Think loud high pitched voice suitable for a lecture hall.) Yoga is from Shiva. Shiva created Yoga. Something blah blah hatha blah blah 30 million poses, blah blah yoga is from Shiva. Whew lecture done with she vaults back to the center of the room.
Now go like this. So we stand up and bend forward touching our hands to the ground. Hands like this (flat on ground.) Umm, ok my fingertips are touching now; it's been at least a year since I've done yoga and at least 8 months for Nelly. No palms are nearing the nasty white floor covering, just fingertips. She folds in half, head on knees hands flat on ground. Our backs and knees are verbally abusing us for thinking about putting our nose anywhere near our knees
04. Dhobi wallahs cleaning clothes.
. OK go like this. We stand up to see what she is now doing. NO, face to knees. We mumble to our knees that we can't see her while we're down here. Now like this, and now this, and this all while groaning the OM mantra. Eventually we notice that we're doing the Sun Salutation. So as we're saluting the sun, she bursts out, what are your names. Umm, Nelly and I tell her. Then points to me, What country? America. Points to Nelly. Japan? Umm no, America, but I was born in Taiwan. Japanese? No TAIWAN. Oh, puzzled look turns into grin, your parents Japanese? Uhhh, no Taiwan. Puzzled look returns. Then, Japanese very nice, Japanese have good hearts, thumps her chest.
So after telling her that we do know some yoga poses, she begins teaching us some beginner and advanced poses with little or no direction as to how to pose properly. She would bounce into the pose for a couple seconds wait for us to duplicate it, then bounce up and say do that 3 times. While we floundered through the warrior poses she dumps out her purse, checks her cell phone for text messages and then sorts through the pile of paper that poured out, exclaiming that she can't find some of her students email addresses.
05. Nighttime ceremony.
Abandoning her search she bounds over to us and starts physically forcing us to take the pose deeper. With the not so gentle application of her hands to Nelly's head, Nelly's forehead is able to reach her knee in jhanushasana, something she's never been able to do. The rest of the night proceeded in this manner:
Her: Do this!
Us: I don't bend that far.
Her: It's easy!!!!!
Us: (straining to do pose)
Her: Hands forcing us into never before possible positions.
Her: I forgot to ask what's your name?
Us: Uhhh, it's still Nelly and Jesse.
The night finally ended after numerous poorly executed and often painful poses. At the end we learn that she was Ms. Benares (Varinasi) 1992. My beauty you won't belive. After children my belly not so nice.
We did some more chants, touched Shiva's photo again, laid 200 rupees ($5) on Shiva's altar, said our namastes and ran the hell out of there.
Phew boy, yoga in Varanasi was quite a treat. I woke up with a bruised spine and stiff back.
What's next
We've been all over SE Asia, China and Tibet looking at Buddhist temples, monastaries, stupas, followers and more. We figured what better way to finish our journey through Buddhism than by visting the place that Buddha reached enlightenment. We're off to Bodgaya.
