India's Venice...Almost

Entry 41:

Being back in India may not have been such a culture shock after being in Nepal, except for the fact that Varanasi is not your average city. Its downtown area is comprised of a maze of alleyways that lead to the holy Ganges River. Each alley has a different purpose, or at least it once did. Each was related to a particular commerce once upon a time. Today, one of the most important ghats, or stairways leading to the water, is the one where cremations take place around the clock. Bodies of the dead are carried on stretchers down the narrow ghat until they reach the cremation site. The family then needs to purchase wood, which is charged by weight. The secret is to finding the right amount of wood so the body burns thoroughly, but that you don't overspend on unneeded wood.

Varanasi is called Kashi, or City of Illumination, by people coming here for a pilgrimage. It is called Banares in Poly language, the language of Buddha. It is surrounded by rivers on 3 sides - a liquid barrier to the holy city and is among the holiest cities for Hindus. Everyday 60,000 pilgrims come to Varanasi. They must stay a minimum of one night and are provided free accommodations and meals (money is provided by the rich). Indians strive to make pilgrimages there at least once in their lifetime to bathe in the holy waters of the Ganges. We watched people bathing, doing laundry, and sending cremated remains all into the same body of water.

To top it all off, there are many cows in Varanasi. They are also considered holy by the locals, so other than providing milk, they are not to be disturbed. We had an interesting first encounter with a cow when we arrived and were searching for our guest house. We found ourselves walking down a street when a cow charged toward us. As we had no where to go, being stuck between a store front and other people on the street, Sharon let our a scream. But, to our luck, the owner of the cow soon came running after it and redirected it elsewhere.

As is true for the rest of India, Varanasi was not a clean city. There was trash lying on the streets everywhere. After seeing the cows chomping on this rubbish, we decided it would be best to stay away from dairy drinks. Interestingly enough, the urine of cows is used for gallbladder surgery in Ayurvedic medicine.

No Lassi for us:

While we're on the subject of cleanliness, neither of us would never walk barefoot in the streets, especially in India. However, plenty of locals do. That is, they attend ceremonies at various temples nestled inside the narrow alleys. Because you must take your shoes off, people either have to ask someone to watch their shoes (which is not so efficient considering the numbers of people going to these temples as well as the cost involved), or leave their shoes at home. Most seem to go with the latter plan. This means they have to skip over cow dung and garbage on their way to temple.

Lucky for us, our friend Priscilla from New York planned to meet us in Varanasi. We accompanied her on a city tour, which included a boat ride along the Ganges early in the morning to watch the locals bathe.

We also ended up in a silk production factory where we were urged to purchase something, but were fortunate enough to watch how their beautiful art is hand made on the premises.

Some of our other stops on the city tour included the Temple Mother of India where a map of the entire country was laid in 3D on the ground; Varanasi University which we drove around; Monkey Temple (we weren't allowed to enter, however); Sarnath, an important Buddhist pilgrimate site where Buddha gave his first sermon.

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The most unique aspect of our connection with Priscilla in Varanasi was our trip to the Smile Train Hospital. Priscilla works for an organization in NY that fundraises money for children in 3rd world countries suffering from cleft palate. The hospital's incredible work was featured in the Academy Award winning documentary short called Smile Pinki. We were fortunate to spend several hours with the hospital's head surgeon, Dr. Sabai, who showed us around, told us about the progress made, as well as what goals he has to expand in the future. It was touching to see these kids waiting with their families to have surgery, knowing that in a short time their lives would be different on so many levels. They'd appear like their peers, their speech would improve, as well as their self-esteem. All this for the price tag of a few hundred dollars and about 2 hours of surgery.

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As we were walking through the alleyways one night, we came across a young man trying to get tourists to come listen to some Indian classical music. He told us there was no charge for the show, but donations would be collected at the end. After removing our shoes, we leaned up against the wall, sitting cross-legged on the floor. We were joined by one Russian tourist and when it appeared as if no other tourists would come in, the show began.

We were treated to a half hour of tabla and sitar (Indian musical instruments). We put a small donation in the bucket and resisted pressure to purchase the accompanying CDs.

Every night at precisely 7pm in the Main Ghat, an elaborate ceremony would take place. Spectators, including ourselves, sat on the stairs watching the ceremony with fire, music, and dance.

Varanasi is one place that cannot be recreated with words or photos. Anyone who has the least bit of interest to visit India, absolutely must include the holy city in their travel plans. Make sure to forego the fancy hotels in town and stay in one of the guest houses along the ghats. Here are some views from the rooftop of our guest house:

p.s. - don't drink the water!

For more photos, check out: grossmintblog.shutterfly.com