Varanasi, aka Benares, aka Kashi - the city of Shiva. One of Hinduism's holiest cities, sitting alongside the West Bank of the Ganges River. Without realizing it beforehand, we arrived a couple of days before Maha Shivaratri - an important celebration of Shiva. We were fortunate to get a hotel room, since the city was full of visitors and pilgrims.
Hindus believe that if you die in Varanasi and are cremated there, you reach Nirvana and escape the endless cycles of rebirth. For that reason, many elderly people or those with serious illness come to Varanasi. On the other hand, Varanasi is a vibrant city, home of world-famous Benares Hindu University, and a major cultural Center of India. North Indian or Hindustani classical music has a strong following here, with many practitioners and teachers based in Varanasi.
It is an experience to walk along the river bank along the many "ghats." These are cement steps leading down to the river. Being a holy river, it is considered very auspicious to bathe in it. There are also many dhobis washing clothes in the river. There are also two ghats where people are cremated -- over a hundred people daily, we were told.
Boats are important to Varanasi. A sunrise or sunset ride in one of the wooden boats rowed by a Ganges boatman is a quintessential Varanasi experience. We took a sunrise ride on the morning of Maha Shivaratri. Even more people than usual were taking ritual morning baths and otherwise celebrating the river. Some of the activity is seen in the photographs. It was wonderful simply to sit at one of the ghats, and watch the activity around us. A range of Hindu rituals were taking place all around with people from all over India. A pilgrimage to Varanasi is very special, and we were privileged to share that experience with many Hindu visitors.
Varanasi is said to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. The buildings themselves are probably not more than about 300 years old, since the city has been several times and destroyed and then rebuilt, the last time some 300-odd years ago. The old part of the city feels very ancient, however. The routes through are extremely narrow, so narrow that cars and even auto rickshaws cannot pass through. Meanwhile, various cows, water buffaloes, goats, and dogs wander through unmolested. And being animals, their droppings fall wherever they do. Cow and buffalo patties are normally scooped up and dried for fuel. The remainder are sometimes cleaned up, sometimes not so quickly... It is one of India's myriad paradoxes that the animals wander freely with people making space for them and vice versa, while at the same time, India is a world leader in high tech industry.
One way or another, Varanasi is a fascinating city. A visit there is pretty well is essential for a real experience of India.
