Varanasi

May 17 - 21

Varanasi is one of India’s holiest cities and it’s not for the faint of heart. The Ganges River runs through it.  The Ganges is a very sacred river for Hindus. It’s considered very important to bathe here and it’s a very auspicious place to be cremated. It’s here that they do public cremations.  There are many pilgramages to Varanasi and as a result a very mixed bag of life here - very poor to very wealthy.  Of course, you see the poverty for the most part.  It seems like a very transient and purposeful place.  And as a non-Hindu Westerner, the purpose of coming here is really to see all of the activity that takes place on the Ganges because it’s nothing like you’ll EVER experience anywhere else. So that's what we did.

A little about the activity in the Ganges. This river is considered very sacred, but it is very very dirty.  Now this isn`t meant to take away from the religious importance or be disrespectful, just an explanation of what happens IN the Ganges.  People bathe, shit, wash their clothes, brush their teeth, drink from, put the ashes of their loved ones in it and dead bodies weighted down with rocks (depending on who you are and how you died). I read that in one litre of water, 500 (not sure what the measurement is) but 500x of fecal matter is safe. In some parts of the Ganges the fecal matter is 1.5 millionx per litre. We saw a guy brush his teeth right beside a drain pipe into the river.  Some Hindus will tell you that it’s not the river that’s dirty but the people and what they do it that is dirty. Okay, but I'm still not touching the water.

I traveled here with Sara, one of the girls who was on the tour with me. It was good to have a friend here. To get a taste of what it’s all about, we did both a Sunset and Sunrise boat cruise down the Ganges. They were very interesting and very different from each other.

(Our rower and ``small boss``)

The sunset cruise was our introduction to the Ganges. As the sun set, men (few, if any, women) bathe at the end of their day. Every evening at the main Ghat (a Ghat is any stais which lead to water), there is a Public Puja where the Ghat becomes full of people and surrounded by boats to watch the ceremony. There is incense burning, horns blowing, a metal drums clanking, people chanting and a ritual performed by some men on raised platforms for all to see. It was very crowded, it was loud and this extravaganza happens EVERY day. It was really nice to watch from the water and with all of the lights and fires.

From the water we saw the main burning Ghat where it looked like eight or so fires burned. The burning Ghats are where the public cremations happen. These cremations happen 24/7. And there are no reservations so often there are people (dead people) waiting in line. We couldn’t see much from the water but we planned to walk up there another day.

The morning cruise was all together different. You really get to see India waking up at this time (5:30am).  People – lots of kids, women and men bathed, people washed their clothes and they performed their morning prayer rituals. There are a few stone platforms that are specifically for cleaning clothes and I guess you can hire men, yes men, to do your laundry here against theses stones. From the boat it looked like some hotels get their white towels washed here. I hoped it was not our hotel’s towels... People were also getting their fishing nets ready for their days work (note to self – don’t order fish here).

After our initial introduction to Varanasi we decided to walk up to the main burning Ghat to really see what it was all about. Walking up to it I felt very unaffected by the fires as they where already going and I didn’t see anything or anyone... It seemed very much like a watching a slice of Hindu life.  But then we saw a ceremony take place from beginning to the end, well almost the end, and that had a slightly different affect on me. We learned that the deceased was the wife of one of the men standing around.  He was dressed all in white with a shaved head.

The husband performed the ritual for the cremation.  The person who performs the ritual and evenutally lights the fire is typically the husband, father or brother of the deceased.  This person (always a man) is dressed in white with a shaved head.  The cermeony started with the husband sprinkling sandlewood over the body and then other men joining in. They then poured butter over the body which helps the body burn. Only weathly people can afford to use butter. Then they covered the body with more wood. Finally, the husband walked over to the fire of Shiva (which is a fire that is always lit and has never gone out in however many years) and brought back some lit kindle and performed the final parts of the ceremony. He walked around the body a few times with the lit kindle and then lit the wood on fire. I'm sure I have missed some details and explanation but this is basically what happens. It was absolutely fascinating to witness.

There are no women here, just men. I asked this man who worked there why there weren’t any women and he said they were too emotional to be there. In my head, I was like “whatever, we're not too emotional” ...and then I proved him right a little later on while watching the husband trying to keep it together after having lit the fire.  I also had just learned of my good friend`s sister passing away.  So it was all a bit much for me.  Supposedly the men here aren't supposed to express sad emotions in order to help the spirit leave the body in a peaceful environment.  So much for my contribution to that.  The man who was talking to us looked at me said ``this is not good maam``.  Thanks for pointing this out.

Now this isn’t a clean and organized place. It’s dirty, there are cows, dogs and goats roaming around everywhere and in between the fires. The men took the husband aside and found a "clean" rock to sit on or squatted on their heels to watch the fire, occassionally chatting to each other. We watched for a little while longer and then it was time for me to go. I don’t think I could watch until the end when the husband would then have to take a big stick and help break apart the pelvic bone which doesn’t burn that well. 

I couldn’t help but think – could I do this - start the cremation of a loved one? I don’t think so. But this is a part of their life.  A part of their faith.  And as harsh as this all may sound, there was a sense of acceptance and peace here.  A moment I won't ever forget.

Our last night we met up with Michele and Ronny for dinner at Burger King! Not the Burger King we all know.  Now that I think about it there are often names of stores and restaurants that copy well known brand names like “Top Shop”... and well, of course I can’t think of any right now... go figure.

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Rest in peace Carla.  I said a little prayer for you here.  Much love to the Davison family.

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More soon...
xoxo