Travelling from Calcutta to the holy city of Varanasi on the mighty River Ganges, its' not as dirty here but it is still quite dusty on the roads with run down buildings but the old town has a lovely charm about it, lots of narrow winding streets with bazaars and market stalls. However, as with Calcutta, everyone appears to want to try and rip you off or sell you something! I've never seen so many cows other than in a field, they are everywhere, on the road and even down the side streets!
Our first stop was to wander down to the many "ghats" which are a flight of steps leading down to a river, in this case the River Ganges, the main one being Dashashwamegh Ghat. The ghats line the Ganges are each have a different purpose, some for holy ceremonies, some for cremation etc. It's an awesome place to people watch and you really get the sense why Varanasi is so holy and religious to the Hindu people. The colours here are really vibrant with ladies in their saris and older Indian men who are very hippy-ish in their long dreadlocks and grey beards. Lots of things from chanting, to praying, to meditation, you pretty much see it all! There are people washing and swimming in the Ganges, kids playing cricket and men fixing up their boats amongst the cows.
In July - August each year the monsoon arrives and we were told how high the river rises. It literally floods where I was standing and this was about 2-3 metres above the level of the current river, I couldn't quite process that. The buildings that line the river and Ghats are old and a mixture of really pretty and ornate or run down.
We walked across to Manikarnika Ghat which is where the cremations happen 24/7 and about 300 a day. This was a real eye opener and not for the faint hearted! You can see several fires burning, lots of people and ash everywhere. A huge pile of wood lines the ghat. We were luckily enough to meet a local who took us around and told us why the place is so holy to them. The wood they use comes from north India and is a special wood that is so oily when the bodies are burnt you cannot smell the burning flesh which is so true. The families save to buy the wood per kg and once the bodies are wrapped in ornate colours and flowers, they are carried down to the river and washed. The purpose of this is so they purify the body as a way to separate them from the family befits they go to a better place. I got to see this several times. They are then left to dry in the sun for about 2 hours before they are then cremated. The cremation is fascinating and eerie to watch having never seen a dead body before. I saw their feet and arms and skulls, quite horrible really but their ashes are they scattered in the Ganges river. The fires burn constantly. As i mentioned above, people come here to die, there is a hospital near by who currently has about 70 elderly people their who will soon be cremated the same way. I also got to see the whole process and ceremony again from a boat in the evening which offered another perspective on the scale and importance of this area as the fires burnt under the nights sky.
Later on in the evening we sailed down the river to another couple of Ghats where other ceremonies were taking place. These happen around 6.30pm each evening and are attended by thousands of people. Lots of colour, music and praying. Again, pretty amazing to watch with some colourful characters, mostly the men!
In summary, I loved Varanasi. It's a really contrast of hectic, busy and tons of people like Calcutta in the town mixed with charm, peace and spiritually on the banks of the Ganges.
