Change In Plans

SUNRISE OVER THE GANGA

Greetings from Varanasi!  This post is about our second day of exploring Hinduism’s (and Buddhism’s, it turns out) holiest city.

We were up and out the door at 5:30 this morning to watch sunrise on the Ganga.  This is the third consecutive morning we have been in motion before 6 am.  The kids have been total troopers, despite being outside of their comfort zones (a little!) but were feeling a little ragged this morning. 

We drove back toward the Dashashwamedha Ghat in pre-dawn darkness.  As always in India, there were thousands of people on the streets regardless of the hour.  We had to walk the last 500 meters to the river because the road got so crowded with pilgrims.  They were playing finger cymbals and chanting “Shiva is great!” over and over again in Hindi.  We fell in with the procession, and made our way quickly down to the water.

Still in darkness, we took a rowboat upriver this time.  We passed a series of ghats where people were bathing themselves in the river, some (presumably pilgrims) in a state of religious ecstasy, and many (presumably locals) with the distracted air of someone showering at the local YMCA.  It is a cliche to write about, but I still could not get over how filthy the water is, and I gagged a little every time I saw someone take a mouthful.  This part of the river was full of decaying buildings and homes that had been converted into budget guest houses for pilgrims and backpackers.  Many advertisements had been painted on the old stone walls above the ghats.

YOGA BOYS GREETING THE SUN

As the sun actually broke over the horizon, we were passing an outdoor yoga class for about 50 young boys who were described as “potential priests in training”.  All of the boys ran down to the river and filled small clay pots.  Then they lined up along the bottom step of the ghat and poured out the pots simultaneously, before going back to the class for the “greeting of the sun” yoga position.  Although most of the boys seemed very serious, it was refreshing to see a few goofing around and splashing each other. We wondered if there are Varanasi boy-yoga-class equivalents to hockey moms, getting the kid to the ghat before dawn, making sure he has the right matching orange pants and robes.  

We turned around at the southern cremation ghat, which already had several fires going, and rowed a long way back downriver in the full sunlight.   In the midst of all of the holy activity, it was surprising to see dozens of professional washers beating laundry vigorously on rocks along the riverbank. Apparently this has been the tradition for thousands of years, and is an expected part of the menagerie.

We disembarked from the row boat and walked through the streets of the oldest part of Varanasi for about 45 minutes.  We passed the area where the cremation wood is cut into pieces (with hand axes), and past stalls where all of the cremation ritual supplies are sold to the retail trade.  The streets were absolutely filthy, with old garbage and rubble strewn everywhere, which surprised me in the holy epicenter of a major world religion.  My linear Western brain is struggling to understand many things (anything?) about India.  I do need to get over gaping at and talking about pollution.

We sort of visited the extremely holy Vishwanath Temple (or Golden Temple, so named for the color of the roof) in a highly militarized part of the old city.  The temple stands directly next to an important mosque, and each building has been torn down by angry mobs of zealots several times throughout Varanasi’s long and complicated religious history.  Dozens of soldiers stood guard, and we were all body searched (including Zola and Tallulah) three separate times.  Non-Hindus and non-Muslims are not allowed to enter the actual temple and mosque, respectively, so once we got through all of the security we could only glimpse at the courtyard through a gap in the inner wall.  

During the rest of the morning we visited the hugely prestigious Benares Hindu University, with its small temple, full of shrines and joyful bell ringing.  Everyone else visited the Mother India temple, but Tallulah was happily asleep, so she and I stayed in the car.

ZOLA AND GIANT BUDDHIST STUPA

In the afternoon we drove to Sarnath, just outside Varanasi.  Because I don’t know much about world religions, I was totally surprised to find out that Sarnath is one of the four holiest sites in Buddhism.  It is where the Buddha gave his first sermon after becoming enlightened, and it is where he converted his first five disciples.  The relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism is complicated.  Buddha was born to Hindu royalty (warrior caste) in the 6th century B.C.  He repudiated Brahminism, and espoused a non-caste philosophy in his new, self-enlightenment-driven religion.  Buddhism became popular in India.  Hindus determined that Buddha was, in fact, the 9th incarnation of Lord Shiva, and incorporated Buddhist tenets into the theological sprawl of Hinduism.  Now only 2% of Indians are Buddhists (but the ideas really caught on elsewhere in Asia).

The “Deer Park” site was discovered in the early 1900s by the British, and the monasteries and temples have been largely excavated.  The central monument is an enormous brick and stone “stupa” which is built on the actual site where he is believed to have given the sermon.  A stupa, as I found out, is a solid dome structure, in the shape of an inverted begging bowl.  Apparently when he left his disciples for the final time, all the Buddha had to give them was his own begging bowl, so this became an enduring symbol.  Being in India has constantly reminded me of how little I know.

All of our heads were spinning after two days in Varanasi. For me, it has created more questions than answers, and I am glad we have two more weeks in India to keep exploring.   Zola, Tallulah and I were glad to go swimming in the late afternoon (in the pool, not in the Ganga), and for everyone to get to bed early.  

Tomorrow we leave for Khajuraho and for the Bhandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.

THEY HAVE BEEN WONDERFUL!