Varanasi Feb 7th-8th

Varanasi is said to be one of the world’s oldest continually inhabited cities, and is one of the holiest places in India.  Hindus come here to bathe in the Ganges to wash away their sins or to cremate their loved ones.  Varanasi was the most chaotic city we visited here.  The traffic and the crowds of people were crazy and the tuck-tuck drivers could only take you so far because the streets became too narrow.  We walked along the narrow streets to the hotel we were planned on staying.  We didn’t, however, have a reservation and when we arrived we found the hotel to be completely booked.  We were back on the streets looking for a place to stay, but fortunately we had run into some other travelers that had recommended a cheap clean guesthouse.

The next morning we woke up and made our way down to Manikarnika Ghat.  This is the main cremation ghat.  The dead bodies are handles by outcastes, known as doms and are carried through the streets on bamboo stretches swathed in colorful cloth and flowers.  The corpses are washed in the Ganges prior to cremation.  Around the ghats are huge stacks of firewood and each log is weighed so that the price of the cremation can be calculated.   The cremations happen several at a time and are going on 24 hours a day.  If the fire is built right, it takes between two-three hours for the body to incinerate.  It was a powerful scene to watch.  We also learned that only the rich and middle class could afford to be cremated.  The poor were wrapped in cloth, weighed down, and slipped into the Ganges. 

That evening Jeff took a boat ride on the Ganges and got some different views of the burning ghats during sunset.  I was struck with another case of Delhi belly, so decidedit was too risky to be out in a little rowboat with no head.  I’m quiet tired of the vegetarian and traveler’s diarrhea diet! 

After his boat ride was over and I had taken enough Imodium, we walked down to the Dasaswamedh Ghat to watch the ganga aarti ceremony.  At 7pm, every night the Hindu priests bless the River Ganges with incest, chanting, bell ringing, fire, and dancing.  It was beautiful. 

The next day we caught our last train in India to Kolkata.  We plan on spending a week there and volunteer  for the Sisters of Charity which Mother Teresa founded.

The wood stacked next to the burning ghats

View of the burning ghats from Jeff's boat ride

At the blessing of Ganges