This morning I have walked pretty much the whole length of the Ghats by the side of the river. This is a strangely spiritual place. All sorts of folk, the tourists, the pilgrims, the touts, the snake charmers, and the religious Hindi men, painted and dressed in orange. It's a photographers dream.
The ghats run all along the west bank of the Ganges, some are in good shape, some not, but all along on the steps leading to the water people are bathing, washing clothes, repairing boats and selling stuff. Literally hundreds of people are bathing in the river. It does nit look particularly clean, indeed it isn't, but that does not deter people from stripping yo their underwear, putting on a sarong and getting in. They even bring soap and shampoo. I took my washing in this morning, I hope it doesnt find its way down here !
It is a great place for people watching. I got as far as the ghat where bodies are burned. It was very unlike Pash******** where it seemed ordered and there was a little platform for the burning, here it was just done on the ground. No photography is permitted, not even of the area. Stacks of wood are piled high for the burning. It is weighed and sold. Sandalwood is the most expensive. Touts are here too, trying to persuade you to stand in a viewing area and then asking for a donation. It was a fascinating to watch. The bodies are brought down on bamboo stretchers, washed in the Ganges and then just enough wood is bought to burn them. There are different coloured robes for men and women, and even different colours for young and old. The touts, some of them purporting to be holy men probably don't use the money (required in US dollars) to buy wood, but pocket it.
Bruchetta and fruit juice at the cafe I'd had my pizza yesterday and then back to my room to have a look at the photos.
Later in the afternoon I set off again along the banks. I bought a couple of candles and just sat and people watched until dusk. It is not long since the monsoon finished and there is a lot of work going on to clear the sometimes 20ft of silt that has covered some of the steps. They do it by sucking water from the river and then using hoses to wash the silt and rubbish back into the river.
I did wander to the first and the smaller burning ghat called Harishchandra Ghat. I got chatting to the owner of the ghat and he told me that they have 50 or 60 cremations a day. There were a few in full flow. It takes about three hours for a body to burn. He explained that the the caste system determines where you are burned. The Bramhin, the highest caste are burned on the top. In fact there was a lady ready to be cremated. This is only the second dead persons face I have ever seen. She was piled under a load of wood but her face was uncovered. There were loads of relatives sitting around watching. No one seemed to be that upset. They believe that the body is just a shell. The people tending the fire were not being particularly respectful, one was bashing a body to break it and the other had a bamboo pole what looked like up the bodies rear end trying to turn it over.....
Each evening at the Dasaswamedh Ghat there is a ceremony called the Ganga Arti which is the celebration of sunset over the Ganges. It is quite elaborate with hundreds of people watching from the ghat and the same again on boats. In the background there are thousands of candles floating down the river. Holy men wander around giving Tika and people are selling things. I got talking to a young lad. We discussed Varanasi and that, like many other places people are always trying to rip you off all the time. It was an interesting conversation, even at such a young age he appreciated that if you think you are going to get ripped off, you are less likely to talk to the people that approach you. That's no good for anyone. Talking of which, my 10 rupee head massage nearly cost 600. It so pisses me off when they do that. When I worked out what was going on I also worked out what he was getting and that was it 150 rupees and lucky he didn't get a smack in the gob....
The ceremony was quite spectacular. I, going to make a point of seeing it from the river before I leave Varanasi. Wandering back to the hotel, I stopped for dinner. Again, I was tucked up for 9:00. It's been a busy day.
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Location:Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
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