Our First Taste of India

  Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
December 29, 2014

 We were up early and headed to the Ganges
at 6:30 am
on this chilly and foggy morning. Our new guide walked with along the busy streets filled with people selling every day items and items for offerings, dogs, tuk tuks, motor bikes, bicycles and cows. You have to choose your footing carefully or you will step in cow dung. It reminds me of Paris that way, although, you only had to watch out for dog poop there!


Down by the Ganges, the most holy river in India, we saw people making offerings in a temple at one of the 84 ghats on the river bank, receiving blessings from Brahmins or priests, men and women bathing side by side, people washing clothes and of course, many other tourists Varanasi.



We had a long and relaxing boat ride along the Ganges to observe all of these activities on the West Bank. The fog added a very atmospheric spirit to the trip, but it did mean we missed the sunrise (and for Bill, the opportunity for once in a lifetime photos). There are no buildings on the sandy East Bank. It was not very busy today because this is not the typical pilgrimage time of the year.



I enjoyed watching the silly tourists feeding the seagulls that have migrated from Siberia. I liked the small black and grey birds with red around their beaks and eyes, Bank Mynas that were also enjoying the boat rides. I was treated to seeing a beautiful bright blue winged White-Throated Kingfisher resting on a bamboo reed near the bank.



Bill purchased a small brass container for $2, which Pilgrims used to take the sacred water from the Ganges home with them. Our cruise ended at one of the 2 ghats dedicated to cremations.


As we picked our way through the small stone alleyway saw many homes with their elaborate and ornate personal temples Praying at the River. The homes are crumbling, but most of the temples are very well maintained. We shared the path with many people, dogs, cows, rats and a small funeral procession.


We were able to visit the Golden Temple, but were not able to go inside because we are not Hindu. It was narrow and very crowded, and we were thoroughly frisked before going in. We could see many spires, but only one large one was made of over 800 kgs of gold.

We had a short demo of the essential oils while sipping tea from the shop that looked after our bags, but we did not purchase anything. I still have lots of sandalwood from Egypt and the Masala is not as good here as it was in Nepal so far.

From the temple, we went back to the hotel for breakfast and then were picked up again at 10:45 to go to the Sarnath Stupa where Buddha said his first sermon. In the temple a Japanese artist painted the life of Siddhartha (Buddha) in the 20th century. It began with the dream that his mother had that predicted her pregnancy until his death Happy to be in IndiaComments!.

Outside the temple was a Bodhi tree where Buddha preached from to his 5 disciples. This tree is not the original, but it was taken from a graft that had been taken to Sri Lanka.

When we returned to the car, we experience our first children begging. One girl was leading around another girl that was blind. So sad!

We drove a short distance to the other side of the grounds where there is an archaeological site of the former monastery, temples and stupas. We walked around the grounds and circled the famous stupa. One one small section, there were some detailed stone carvings. We also walked back to the deer park and saw some deer and parakeets.

We spent a bit of time with our guide at the museum with artifacts from the former stupa and temples. The large polished stone statue with the three lions and the wheels was very impressive, we also enjoyed the statues that were covered with umbrellas, one large and detailed Buddha statue and the statue of the 10 armed Shiva fighting the demon Wood ready at the Ghats. Sadly, we could not take photos of these impressive works of art.

Briefly we went to Chaukhandi Stupa where Buddha met his first five disciples. This stupa is very plain and made of solid brick.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant, Brownie Woods, instead of our hotel. We had veggie samosas, garlic naan, butter naan, butter chicken and tandoori chicken with Kingfisher beer. The tandoori chicken was especially good!

At 3:30 we headed out for last portion of our tour in Varanasi. We went to a unique temple, Mother Earth Temple. It was a square structure with a topographical map of India in the centre.

Next we went to the University where 20,000 students attend. There are 115 departments and it covers 5 square kilometres. Vishwanath Temple is located within the University grounds. There was a beautiful linga shrine that many people had come to offer water, flowers and leaves.

It was getting late and we headed back down to the Ganges Cremations from the River. It was extremely crowded, but we made it on time to get into our boats and head to the site of the cremations. There were 22 or 23 funerals happening at once and the site was very solemn and incredible to witness. The huge flames could be seen from quite a distance on the water once the sun had gone down.

Our guide explained that only males can attend funerals. Women are more emotional and if the deceased person sees someone crying, they will stay near the mourners instead of going to heaven. Another reason why women were not allowed to attend is because often widows would throw themselves onto the pyre with their deceased husbands out of an extreme gesture of love. I would point out that marriages are still arranged here and am guessing that is not necessarily the real reason. Another reason offered is that widows opt for suicide instead of living an extremely basic life after her husband dies, a life consisting of at least 5 days a week of fasting Our Guide for the Day.

We made our way back to the ghats where where we witnessed priests perform the Ganga Aarti ceremony. They began to chant, ring bells and wave around incense and fire. This beautiful ceremony is performed to thank Shiva each and every day. Despite the fact that it was not a common time for pilgrimages, there were still hundreds of people on the shore and in boats watching the bright and musical ceremony. It was very special and we were lucky to witness it.


Pictures & VideosBather in the RiverOn the Ganges in the MorningSarnatha StupaNext to the StupaTheresa the Silk WeaverAarti Cerimony