Magical Banaras - II

Fresh from some rest, I decided to go ghat-seeing. Again, the deal with ghats is that there are far too many (I think I heard someone say there are around 80 ghats), so you got to pick and choose. Most of the ghats are bathing ghats, while others are used as cremation sites. Many ghats are associated with legends or mythologies. This piece below from wikipedia:

“Dashashwamedh Ghat is located close to "Vishwanath Temple", and is probably the most spectacular ghat. Two Hindu mythologies are associated with it: According to one, Lord Brahma created it to welcome Lord Shiva. According to another, Lord Brahma sacrificed ten horses in a yajna here. A group of priests daily perform in the evening at this ghat "Agni Pooja" (Worship to Fire) wherein a dedication is made to Lord Shiva, River Ganga, the Sun, Agni (Fire), and the whole universe.

Two legends are associated with Manikarnik Ghat: According to one, it is believed to be the place where Lord Vishnu dug a pit with his Chakra and filled it with his perspiration while performing various penances. While Lord Shiva was watching Lord Vishnu at that time, the latter's earring ("manikarnik") fell into the pit. According to the second legend, in order to keep Lord Shiva from moving around with his devotees, his consort Goddess Parvati hid her earrings, and asked him to find them, saying that they had been lost on the banks of Ganga. Goddess Parvati's idea behind the fib was that Lord Shiva would then stay around, searching forever for the lost earrings. In this legend, whenever a body gets cremated at the Manikarnik Ghat, Lord Shiva asks the soul whether it has seen the earrings”

The Manikarnik Ghat is a cremation ghat and you see a lot of firewood and smoke in this area. I witnessed the cremation rituals performed there and it was truly a numbing experience. Next, I visited the Dashashwamedh Ghat to see the famous Ganga aarti. The aarti starts at around 7:15 and goes on for an hour.

Prayers are made to River Ganga as well as Lord Shiva along with a host of other deities. The aarti was magnificent and full of music and spectacular visuals. In fact, I would call it the highlight of my trip. I was so tired at the end of ghat-seeing, that I decided to call it a day. I had to get up early next morning as I was told that the sun-rise is one of the most beautiful sites in this part of the world.


Next day, I was up by 5am and with my guide in tow, I visited the Kedar ghat and sat along the river banks and watched the dawn while sipping tea. It was truly magical. Next on schedule was a trip to Sarnath which is around 13 kms from the Varanasi. Sarnath is the site of the deer park where Gautama Buddha is said to have given his first sermon about the basic principles of Buddhism. Also visited the Dhamek Stupa and the Chaukhandi Stupa commemorating the spot where Buddha met his first disciples (in the 5th century or earlier, BC). A Buddhist temple with a Gautam Buddha statue and a picture gallery outlining Buddha’s life in pictures is almost a 200 meter walk from the deer park. It was almost three on the sunday afternoon and the only thing left to do was try out some banarasi chaat and the famed paan. The chaat was average but the paan and thandai was amazing.


I still had like 3 hours to kill before I could get on to the Shiv Ganga Express taking me back to Delhi. So I decided to watch a movie in one of the local halls. It was sweltering hot and humid on the streets so the AC-cooled movie hall sounded appealing. The only movie on offer was “Ugly aur Pagli” starring Mallika Sherawat and Ranvir shorey. The movie was so horrible that I left the hall in half-an hour flat. Pritish Nandy - I want my money back!! Once outside I stumbled on a life-size poster of a recognizable political party - guess what - the Shiv Sena. I find it ironical that the Shiv Sena and Raj Thackeray’s MNS would have presence in UP while they are trying to throw our North Indians from Mumbai. And the other hilarious thing about the poster was that - it was for a Kushti Pratiyogita - meaning a wrestling competition. Lol. I guess the tiger will keep its stripes (pun intended).

Overall, the trip was fantastic. The only regret, if at all, was that I missed the boat ride - which is supposed to be the most amazing experience. The water levels in the Ganges are high at this time of the year and the plus all the boatmen were on strike for some god-dammed reason (couldnt even bribe them to take me around). So no boat ride for me. But still, I will remember the Ganga aarti, the temples, the sweets, the silk-buying experience, the alleys and of course the pundas. I think Varanasi is close to Bombay in a lot of ways. As Suketu Mehta, in his book the 'Maximum City' describes Mumbai as the city as a city of “no” which means that you don’t like the city initially till it creeps slowly on you. Varanasi or Banaras is something like that. The alleys, the sheer amount of people, the stench of cow-dung and poor sanitation can be repulsive but after a point you see past them and see the beauty that the city has to offer. It truly is one colorful experience.

Boat-ride is only one of the many reasons why I would want to visit Banaras again.