Wednesday 13 April 2016
Varanasi
Where shall I begin? Three different Indian cities--Cochin, Mumbai, Varanasi--and three different worlds of color and chaos. Varanasi is much smaller than Mumbai, but is unbelieveably more congested and crowded. Besides being the holiest city in the world for Hindus, it is only slightly less holy for Buddhists (the original Buddha preached his first sermon in a field only a few miles away), Muslims (who have a major mosque here), Jains (five of their gurus lived here), and Sikhs. So that pretty much covers the gamut of diversity that is religion in India.
My introduction to the city is actually quite efficient; they have a spanking new airport with great facilities. I am met by an Audley agent and driver who take me to the Ramada Plaza Hotel, a first-class facility that sits in a busy area just where the old city and the cantonment (or suburbs) of Varanasi meet--about a forty minute drive from the airport. We pass fallow fields baking in the dry air as well as many small shops lining the road as we both fight and follow the traffic.
The hotel is quite luxurious for a Ramada, with a sparkling marble lobby, several restaurants, shops, and an outdoor pool. The Audley agent takes care of the details of registration, while I enjoy a light fruit drink (much better tasting than the one in Mumbai). My room meets all the standards of international travel, although the electronics give me some trouble. The folks at the regsiration desk help me get all my hardware on line (phone, ipad, laptop), but I still am having trouble getting the TV to work. Will is supposed to call me but I have a feeling that although my cellphone is connected to airtel today, it might not be tomorrow.
I have a little under three hours until my tour begins at 5:30pm, and I won't be having dinner until after that, so I walk over to the mall, which conveniently is right next door to the hotel, and have a locally-flavored Chicken McNugget Sandwich at you know where. The fries taste just like at home, but the chicken has been altered to meet the taste demands of the native population.
Right on time my local guide, a native of this city with a PhD in History, and my driver from earlier today, take me into the heart of this city, indeed the heart of all Hindu India--the Ghats on the Mother Ganges River. Although the river stretches thousands of
kilometers from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal, Veranasi is at the only point where the river first flows south and then turns north
and west before resuming its southern course, symbolically flowing from "Heaven" (the mountains of the north) to earth and then back
toward heaven again. Thus geography has created the mythical
importance of the city that has lasted for thousands of years.
It takes almost an hour to drive the 2.5 kilometers from the hotel to the river, because it seems the entire population of the city is on the same road heading toward the same river. Finally, about three blocks from the water, my guide suggests we end the frustration of sitting in the car in traffic, and walk the rest of the way. He is very solicitous of me as we thread our way through the crowds, making sure that we don't get separated, and that I don't get run down or lost. Of course, everyone is surging toward the same goal, so there isn't much chance of going in the wrong direction.
We finally have our first glimpse of the river and the series of steps ("ghats") that line the shore. As the end of the day approaches and the sun begins to start, the prayers and festivities, as well as creamations, reach their apogee. The tumult on the shore, with a cacophony of prayers coming over loudspeakers and deafening metal bells clanging everywhere, is a scene of pandemonium. But,
like most of the rest of the tourists and visitors, we are soon on the water in a small boat rowed by a small man, to observe the ceremonies from the water. Although many of the tourist boats hold 10 to 20 passengers, my guide and I have a boat to ourselves.
This gives us enough quiet and time for him to explain the nature of the creamation ceremonies that I will see--and the festivities that
follow after.
[I hope to post photos tomorrow from Delhi, where the Internet
might be working better and I can fix the formatting issues
To top the evening, literally, my guide takes me from the small rowboat up the steps to the top dock of a "party" boat that belongs to a friend and is tonight not being used. From this vantage point I have a panoramic view of the festival: seven Brahmins chanting and displaying lighted candles. The ceremony begins and ends with the blowing of great coaches. Afterwards, we wend our way up the steps of the ghat back through the crowds to our waiting car to take us back to the hotel.
I have dinner at the hotel, a special festival buffet with foods from India and other major cuisines. My palate of local foods is expanding, as I try a number of home-cooked dishes. Tomorrow morning is a welcome rest time and my tour of the alleys and byways of Old Veranasi doesn't start until three in the afternoon. But tomorrow will have to wait another day.
return and dinner at 9:30
buffet
Varanasi
Where shall I begin? Three different Indian cities--Cochin, Mumbai, Varanasi--and three different worlds of color and chaos. Varanasi is much smaller than Mumbai, but is unbelieveably more congested and crowded. Besides being the holiest city in the world for Hindus, it is only slightly less holy for Buddhists (the original Buddha preached his first sermon in a field only a few miles away), Muslims (who have a major mosque here), Jains (five of their gurus lived here), and Sikhs. So that pretty much covers the gamut of diversity that is religion in India.
My introduction to the city is actually quite efficient; they have a spanking new airport with great facilities. I am met by an Audley agent and driver who take me to the Ramada Plaza Hotel, a first-class facility that sits in a busy area just where the old city and the cantonment (or suburbs) of Varanasi meet--about a forty minute drive from the airport. We pass fallow fields baking in the dry air as well as many small shops lining the road as we both fight and follow the traffic.
The hotel is quite luxurious for a Ramada, with a sparkling marble lobby, several restaurants, shops, and an outdoor pool. The Audley agent takes care of the details of registration, while I enjoy a light fruit drink (much better tasting than the one in Mumbai). My room meets all the standards of international travel, although the electronics give me some trouble. The folks at the regsiration desk help me get all my hardware on line (phone, ipad, laptop), but I still am having trouble getting the TV to work. Will is supposed to call me but I have a feeling that although my cellphone is connected to airtel today, it might not be tomorrow.
I have a little under three hours until my tour begins at 5:30pm, and I won't be having dinner until after that, so I walk over to the mall, which conveniently is right next door to the hotel, and have a locally-flavored Chicken McNugget Sandwich at you know where. The fries taste just like at home, but the chicken has been altered to meet the taste demands of the native population.
Right on time my local guide, a native of this city with a PhD in History, and my driver from earlier today, take me into the heart of this city, indeed the heart of all Hindu India--the Ghats on the Mother Ganges River. Although the river stretches thousands of
kilometers from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal, Veranasi is at the only point where the river first flows south and then turns north
and west before resuming its southern course, symbolically flowing from "Heaven" (the mountains of the north) to earth and then back
toward heaven again. Thus geography has created the mythical
importance of the city that has lasted for thousands of years.
It takes almost an hour to drive the 2.5 kilometers from the hotel to the river, because it seems the entire population of the city is on the same road heading toward the same river. Finally, about three blocks from the water, my guide suggests we end the frustration of sitting in the car in traffic, and walk the rest of the way. He is very solicitous of me as we thread our way through the crowds, making sure that we don't get separated, and that I don't get run down or lost. Of course, everyone is surging toward the same goal, so there isn't much chance of going in the wrong direction.
We finally have our first glimpse of the river and the series of steps ("ghats") that line the shore. As the end of the day approaches and the sun begins to start, the prayers and festivities, as well as creamations, reach their apogee. The tumult on the shore, with a cacophony of prayers coming over loudspeakers and deafening metal bells clanging everywhere, is a scene of pandemonium. But,
like most of the rest of the tourists and visitors, we are soon on the water in a small boat rowed by a small man, to observe the ceremonies from the water. Although many of the tourist boats hold 10 to 20 passengers, my guide and I have a boat to ourselves.
This gives us enough quiet and time for him to explain the nature of the creamation ceremonies that I will see--and the festivities that
follow after.
[I hope to post photos tomorrow from Delhi, where the Internet
might be working better and I can fix the formatting issues
To top the evening, literally, my guide takes me from the small rowboat up the steps to the top dock of a "party" boat that belongs to a friend and is tonight not being used. From this vantage point I have a panoramic view of the festival: seven Brahmins chanting and displaying lighted candles. The ceremony begins and ends with the blowing of great coaches. Afterwards, we wend our way up the steps of the ghat back through the crowds to our waiting car to take us back to the hotel.
I have dinner at the hotel, a special festival buffet with foods from India and other major cuisines. My palate of local foods is expanding, as I try a number of home-cooked dishes. Tomorrow morning is a welcome rest time and my tour of the alleys and byways of Old Veranasi doesn't start until three in the afternoon. But tomorrow will have to wait another day.
return and dinner at 9:30
buffet
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