Whenever I tell people that I plan to go on a solo trip, I manage to draw expressions which sort of hint at the fact that there is something inherently wrong in what I am doing. While some (my parents included) think that I have lost my marbles, others simply assume that going alone would be such a boring exercise that you wouldn’t wish that upon your worst enemy. Some even hint at the fact that I am not telling the whole truth - implying a paramour in tow. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy going out with friends and on trips too. But, going on a trip alone has a charm of its own.
I know people who travel alone to be away from the mundane. I have been told that they want to get away and do things they want to and in the way they want to. That to me is only a part of the motivation. For me, it is more on the lines of exploring and the sheer joy of trying something new, whether be it the indigenous culture, the local cuisine or even the strangeness in the weather conditions. Sometimes, it helps me see my own problems in better light, but in most cases, it just amazes me to see how with distance, life changes form. I think it is dangerous to get too deep in this sort of philosophical stuff. But the long and short of it is, I like to experience the change. And I think everyone should try it out once, should an opportunity present itself. It can be a cleansing experience.
Banaras is a city with many names - the more common ones being Varanasi (official name) and Kashi. For a whole list of other names visit Wikipedia. There were a lot of things that intrigued me about Banaras. For starters, I wanted to know how one of the oldest continually inhabited living cities in the world looked like. From my childhood, I have been hearing about how a dip in the Holy Ganges can wash away sins (In my case, I would have to go there every alternate weekend, if that was the case :). Then the many ghats bordering the Ganges - each with a myth of its own. Add to that, Banaras’ reputation of being been the cultural and religious centre in northern India for several thousand years - many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians resided or reside in Banaras, including Kabir, Ravi Das, Munshi Premchand, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Hariprasad Chaurasia, and Ustad Bismillah Khan. Tulsidas wrote his Ramacharitamanas here, and Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath near Kashi. Ayurveda is said to have originated at Varanasi (all this of course from Wikipedia). And finally the banarasi paan of the ‘khaike paan banaraswaala’ fame, the khoya sweets, the lal peda and the famed banarasi silk. So, a Banaras trip was definitely on.
So I hopped onto Delhi Banaras Special as it trudged out of Delhi at around 6:15 pm late on Friday, 1st of August. The time stamp is quite unnecessary, but what the heck! Just felt like capturing the momentous occasion :). The train reached Varanasi Railway station at around 9 am (~ 15 hours), 2 hours behind schedule. I had done my research well, so I knew that I had to catch an auto rickshaw to Assi Ghat and the charge of the fare would be around 30-40 Rupees (Source: Wikitravel). The other option was to take a cycle rickshaw to Goudolia market and a cycle rickshaw from goudolia to Assi Ghat. The auto rickshaw charged around 50 Rupees and I was in no mood to haggle. What followed next was an unbelievable ride in some of the narrowest alleys, I have seen. There was about one centimeter gap between the farthest edges of the auto rickshaw and the alley walls. Yet, the driver insisted on driving through them. What was even more shocking was - If there were people coming from the opposite side, they had to go back to the point, the auto rickshaw could be allowed to pass :) Plus, there are cows and dogs on almost every alley - acting like speed breakers - to slow you down.
So I reached Assi ghat and checked out some of the renting options that wikipedia and other blogs had suggested. Most people had claimed that the location near Assi Ghat was ideal as it is a lot cleaner and quieter as compared to say any other ghat. I thought so too. But none of the renting options gave a view of the Ganges that I was looking for. So I jumped back into auto rickshaw and we did the alley-blazing routine again still I stumbled upon a guest house near chowki ghat (next to the famous Kedar Ghat). The location was good, not as clean and quiet as Assi ghat but a lot better than most other ghats. The room at ‘Kedareshwar Bed and Breakfast’ (KBB hereafter) was fantastic - it was directly above the ghat and the room offered an unobstructed view of the Ganges. The bathroom was clean, they offered power backup and cable TV and the price for a day (500 Rs for non-AC) seemed very reasonable.
So I quickly settled into my latest accommodation. The other advantage at KBB was that they offered me a guide who would show me around. A guide is not exactly not what I wanted as it goes against the backpacker’s basic instinct of self-exploration. But having seen the maze of alleys I decided to change tact save myself some time using some local help.
My first stop was the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple, having the holy shrine of Lord Kashi Vishwanath (a manifestation of Lord Shiva) and one of the twelve revered Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva. According to mythology, Lord Shiva once in fact lived in Kashi (Varanasi). I was warned a million times that I should stay away from “pundas” (short for pandits). But my guide suggested that I take the help of a punda as the temple inside has numerous exits and I might get lost. But he too warned me to refrain from giving any money while inside. What followed next was something that I would not like to remember too fondly. Even before I reached the entrance, I was frisked by policeman at least five times. The serpentine line made breathing in the alley very difficult and there was a lot of pushing and shoving. My punda took me inside from the exit instead of the entrance (he later confessed that the temple closes for some time in the afternoon and had I stayed in the regular queue I would have to wait for 4 hours). So the strategem of entering the temple from the exit worked. Once inside I prayed for forgiveness for not waiting in line like others :(. The pundas are super smart. Once inside the temple, they quickly make you visit the lingam and then escort you to places where the other murtis are kept and here is where they extract money. I was innocently escorted to one small murti after other and then made to offer prayers and accept prasad for which I had to pay. After a couple of instances, I refused to pay for which I was told that I would cursed by lord almighty himself - so I had to oblige. I was even made to buy a whole bucket of milk mixed with bhaang (when a small cup would have sufficed). Needless to say, I felt robbed once I came out. The blessings of Lord Vishwanath aside, I am not keen on meeting another punda in my lifetime.
Next stop was the famous Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple. This one was a lot better, and orderly and most importantly minus the virus pundas :). The third temple in line was the New Kashi Vishwanath Temple or the Birla Mandir at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Campus. The important thing to remember about Banaras, is that there are a million temples, all important ones depending on whom are asking, so you to have pick and choose before you go. I chose the Birla Mandir because I wanted to see the BHU campus. BHU, also known as Kashi Hindu Vishwavidyalaya, is regarded as the largest residential university in Asia. Moreover, the fully-residential campus has more than 128 independent teaching departments and several of its colleges, including engineering (MCA),(IT-BHU),(Agriculture), (Law), Science and medicine (IMS-BHU), are ranked amongst the best in India. I loved the campus. It is amazingly well maintained, very green and peaceful. The Birla Mandir was good too. I lunched at the BHU itself minus any soft drinks - apparently colas are banned on campus - way to go BHU :)
It was almost three in the afternoon and I was done with all the temples I wanted to visit. I bought some khoya sweets and lal pedas (the sweets in the city are amazing and you must try the rasgollas). Then I decided to visit madanpura where apparently they sell authentic silk. The two places mentioned in Wikitravel are apparently too expensive. But my guide informed me that KBB has its own silk shop and they sell authentic silk at very cheap rates. Plus he said that I could sit in my own room and pick while relaxing on my bed. (my guide was a smart salesman - “relaxing on my bed” bit really made it an easy decision). So I went to the Krishna Silk Shop at the KBB. Buying silk is apparently an art. A lot of other cloth material can give a similar feel as silk. The easiest way to tell authentic silk is to pluck out a thread and burn it. Apparently, silk gives an odor and then leaves behind carbon residue when the charred thread is crushed. Cotton thread would burn out completely while plastic would give a plastiky odor and leave no residue. See the inset pictures.
So having done a little science experiment, I finally bought a few silk sarees for folks back home, which really made my wallet a trifle lighter. It was almost evening now and I had been on the road since almost yesterday evening, so I decided to get some rest before I catch the famous dusk “Ganga aarti”. Once back in my room, I switched on cable television and watched India kick Sri Lanka’s backside in the Test match at Galle. I dozed off while the ball had almost reached the boundary on one of Gambhir’s shot :)
