Varanasi 16 March

For me 1 day in Varanasi is enough, unless you are spiritually interested, or have other reasons for being here, then you can pretty much see the whole place in 2 mornings & 2 nights, by taking in the sights from offshore on a boat & walking the shoreline.

 

As you can imagine different things and ceremonies are occurring in the morning & evening so you need to experience both. I spent last night watching the evening worship ceremony, didn't understand anything, but quite interesting to watch. it finished by about 8pm, so by the time I had dinner was quite tired so went to bed early after quite a full day having started at 5am.

 

Started my morning by taking a walk along the ghats to the washing area, where you can understand why they always look so clean, the beat scrub & rinse the clothes better than any washing machine, then spread them to dry on the steps.

 

Then wandered back along the ghats, that I had not been to, watching the daily washing rituals, and then on to the burning Ghat. Well don't come here if you are a bit squeamish, the ritual starts with the body being carried into the Ganges, then it is placed ontop of a  pile of logs stacked to take the body, then they cover the body with a few more logs, sandalwood, other things I couldn't identify, then there is a  ceremony for lighting the fire with a coal from the eternal fire, once the body is burnt 2-3 hours they have a final ceremony of putting water from the Ganges onto the body, and walk away to complete the grieving at home. No women are allowed as they get too emotional, and may try and join their loved one. in some ways it a nice way to put someone to rest, and say goodbye, but in others it is quite gruesome as they keep manipulating the fires and the bodies, to burn them completely.

 

Finished the day with some shopping and more watching in the ghats & markets, dining early to prepare to leave for the station at 8 to catch the train to Siliguri, hopefully this goes smoothly, if so I will be in the Himalayan foothills by tomorrow night.