Rob and Anna's travel adventure

Christmas in Varanasi and Sarnath, India

Anna's entry:

Varanasi has been the most colorful city in India so far. The city is one of the holiest places in India, where Hindu pilgrims come to wash away a lifetime of sins in the Gange river, or to cremate their loved ones. The life (and death) in Varanasi revolves around the ghats - the long string of bathing steps leading down to the western bank of the Gange. There are several "burning ghats" where bodies are cremated in public. We stayed in a local hotel right next to the Manikarnika ghat - the main burning ghat, and the most "prestigious" place for for a Hindu to be cremated. Dead bodies are handled by outcasts known as doms, and they are carried through the narrow alleyways of the old city to the river on a bamboo stretcher swathed in cloth. The corpse is doused in the Gange river prior to cremation. High piles of firewood are stacked under and over the body, and then the fire is started all over the wood. We have seen numerous fires set up all over the ghat, and it seems like the bodies are cremated 24 hours a day. We watched the whole process, and it is quite an experience. We were told that about 200-300 bodies are cremated per day, and there are only several categories that are forbidden to go through this procedure. The following people can not be given a "privilege" of being cremated at the river - pregnant women, children under the age of 10, sacred people, Seek people, and people who died from a bite of cobra... As you can see there is a whole philosophy here! The most striking experience was the following, which will undoubtedly stay in our memories as the most colorful Christmas. We went to the Manikarnika ghat to watch that honorable cremation under the open sky. A dozen of fires have already been set up, the flames were huge on the background of the ancient maharajah (king) palaces. But this is what struck more the most - right next to the fires (over the bodies covered by wood), there was a happy looking young boy, casually flying his kite. He was sitting on top of the wood (which will be used for another cremation soon), with a big smile, and his entire attention was on his kite, that was fling in the sky right over all these flames! Next to a finished fire, on pile of the ashes, a dog was peacefully sleeping, obviously taking advantage of the warmth of the ashes. Then, right next to a cremated body, a group of guys were standing (only men relatives are allowed, no women), and they were casually having a conversation, one of them on a cell phone. Right next to a body prepared to be put in flames, all like a matter of fact! Then, goats appeared, and began jumping up and down the stairs, and eating all these flowers left after the funeral. Then a huge cow with a calve showed up, and laid down in the middle of the street. And, I could just go on and on with other descriptions. It just felt like a Fellini movie (the Italian film director, who was known for his symbolism and surreal interpretations). Anyway, how was your Christmas? :)

In addition to the elaborate fire-cremation procession, we took a boat ride along the majestic waterfront of the city. We could see the lotus candles floating along the river, the full moon reflecting in the river water, and it was so peaceful! When we came back to our hotel, a management prepared a little surprise for all of us, foreigners. They decorated the entire terrace with Christmas decorations,. had lots of munchies laying around, and made a three-level cake (looked like a big wedding cake). They also brought local kids who brought us candies in their Santa Claus bag, and then a group of drummer musicians. They thought the louder they would play, the more we would appreciate it, so we almost lost our hearing ability after an hour of this! But it was very well meant, so we greatly appreciated it! The next morning, monkeys were intrigued by all these glistening decorations, and they kept climbing to the terrace. One of them tried to steal the glitter. Speaking about monkeys, they are a casual business here. When we eat at a restaurant (a balcony-terrace), quite a few of them show up, and start climbing all over the balcony railings. Also, we just had a private show the other day, in our own room. We stayed on the third floor (it felt more like the seventh floor, because the ceiling here is very high). We had two windows in our room, and one window in a bathroom. The monkeys were having a drama among each other, and they began jumping on our building, and our windows. Luckily, the windows had bars, so they couldn't get into the room, otherwise I am sure they would. In addition, when I was in a bathroom, a male monkey jumped into the window, and was hanging on bars, with all his private areas exposed in the window. I think he intended it that way, I called him a "flashing monkey", and told him he should be more modest next time. :)

Another thing that we did for Christmas Eve was watching a very elaborate religious procession on one of the Varanasi ghats. Thousands of people flee here for this! An elaborate ceremony included dance with fire, puja (offerings) of flowers and milk thrown into the Gange river, and it lasted for several hours. It all seemed so surreal and yet real, I could still see in my mind all these bright colors that the monks were dressed in - bright yellow, gold, red, etc. Also, the bells were ringing everywhere, and the drums were playing non-stop a classical Indian melody...


Manikarnika Ghat, the main cremation ghat


Business as usual at the Ghat...


Sunset boat ride on the Ganges


Ganges in the dusk


Sunrise in Varanasi, morning walk


Morning hours


Breakfast for stray goats, yamm.....


Rob is getting his over-due haircut


On a night boat ride on the Ganges




A day before Christmas we went to Sarnath - the place where Buddha was thought to have his religious discoveries. We walked around the temple and monastery ruins. A group of old Indian ladies (babushkas as I call them in Russian), were actually the main restoring labour force! These small old ladies were just pounding all the bricks, sand, etc. by their small hands! They must have been around 70 years old, and they were doing their work like no one else's business! Also, when we walked around the park, we saw a family of dears, several of them began walking towards us, so we petted them, and gave them a treat - fresh green leaves. They became our Christmas rain deers. :) It is very dry here, so having anything green is a treat! I have actually seen cows eating newspapers more than once! But that will be another entry...

Old ladies doing restoration work by hand


"Guards" of a temple


Our Christmas "rain deers"




Place of the Budha

posted by Rob and Anna @ 7:30 AM