Varanasi

Welcome to one of the oldest and holiest cities in India, Varanasi, a 15 hour train ride east of Delhi. Also known as the City of Life due to its perch on the western bank of the Ganges river, Hindu people travel great distances in order to wash away a lifetime of sins in the river. We were there only a couple of months before the big monsoon, and thus several-feet deep of grimy riverbed lay exposed. Unfortunately, the water appears more the murky cesspool type than the crystal holy water one might imagine. And though we wouldn't even imagine stepping foot in the river, it is often a local drinking source.

One of the central features of Varanasi are the 80 Ghats, with their long stretches of stairs leading down to the holy water. Each Ghat has it's own name, history and significance. They embody an immense amount of life and color with people from every walk of life (and caste) coming to bathe, swim, pray, eat, buy and sell...

Chopped trees tower through many streets to provide fuel for the constant public cremations. Varanasi is an especially auspicious place for Hindus to die as it offers liberation from the cycles of life and death. As such, funeral ceremonies are a major presence here. Bodies are carried down to be plunged in the river and then placed (alone) upon one of the massive bonfires, commonly in the "Manikarnika" (Burning) Ghat. Within the Untouchable Caste, the Doms are the ones in charge of handling the bodies and carrying out the cremation. Religious leaders and babies are released into the river without being cremated as they are considered to still be pure.

We rowed lazily down the river early in the morning to watch everyone's day begin- in various forms- in and along the river. We encountered a floating baby, creating in our minds a dichotomy between our western beliefs and cultural acceptance.

Behind the river lies a dense world of tangled yet beautiful cement and carved stone buildings, no two alike. The labyrinth of streets around our neighborhood, dark from the looming buildings, were barely two shoulders wide and turned us around at every corner. Our hotel is the white building just to the right of the central temple- our room the upperleft, red porch.