Thursday 3rd
It's another early start to fly from Delhi for 24 hours in Varanasi to observe ancient Hindu rituals on the Ganges. After lunch at the Gateway Hotel, we drive to the outskirts of the city along a bumpy dirt road (new one is under construction) to a spot which is as sacred to Buddhists as the banks of the Ganges are to Hindus. Sarnath is where the Buddha, after attaining enlightment, came to deliver his first sermon, "All is Sorrow". It's a peaceful site of ruined temples and a memorial chorten, a Mecca for Buddhist monks and pilgrims, including many groups from Sri Lanka. Sarnath Museum houses the original column headed by four lions which became India's national symbol, and the most bewitching sculpture of the Buddha which I've ever seen - it has a Mona Lisa-like serenity. No photos allowed but there are plenty of replicas for sale from the street vendors outside!
Then it's on to the old heart of Varanasi to make our way down to the river. The bus drops us off to navigate the last half hour on bicycle rickshaws - a cacophonous ride through ever-thickening crowds of people, doing their daily shopping or heading like us for the ghats, the steps leading down to the River Ganges.
We leave the rickshaw drivers above the ghat, and make our way down among the throng of worshippers, flower sellers, other vendors and beggars. We board a fishing boat to observe the rituals from the water - first going downstream to the site of open-air funeral pyres, where many Hindus choose to cremate their dead. It's an extraordinary scene - a sacred ritual conducted in a very matter-of-fact way, amid piles of litter, grazing cattle and the family groups of mourners. Back at the main ghat, we moor among a small fleet of boats to watch Hindu priests perform the Aarti, a nightly sunset ritual, conducted under a canopy of bright lights to electrified chanting from a platform on the ghat. You'd have to see all of this several times to begin to appreciate it.
Then it's on to the old heart of Varanasi to make our way down to the river. The bus drops us off to navigate the last half hour on bicycle rickshaws - a cacophonous ride through ever-thickening crowds of people, doing their daily shopping or heading like us for the ghats, the steps leading down to the River Ganges.
We leave the rickshaw drivers above the ghat, and make our way down among the throng of worshippers, flower sellers, other vendors and beggars. We board a fishing boat to observe the rituals from the water - first going downstream to the site of open-air funeral pyres, where many Hindus choose to cremate their dead. It's an extraordinary scene - a sacred ritual conducted in a very matter-of-fact way, amid piles of litter, grazing cattle and the family groups of mourners. Back at the main ghat, we moor among a small fleet of boats to watch Hindu priests perform the Aarti, a nightly sunset ritual, conducted under a canopy of bright lights to electrified chanting from a platform on the ghat. You'd have to see all of this several times to begin to appreciate it.
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