varanasi

we spent our last weekend in varanasi, india's holiest city. to indians, varanasi is known as shiva's city (shiva being one of the three main gods, the god of destruction)because shiva went there and never left. to tourists, varanasi is known as crazy. all of india's beauty, history, filth, and excitement are packed into this one city. it is completely and totally overwhelming, to say the least, even after having a month in india of building up my tolerance level.



apparently, indians from all over make their way to varanasi to die so they can be cremated in one of the two famous cremation ghats along the ganges. one of those ghats happen to be the closest ghat to our hotel, so (unfortunately) in an effort to get to the main ghat we ended up looking out over the cremations taking place. needless to say, i was horrified. rachel saw me immediately burst into tears so she didn't look down. phil and rachel had usher me back to our hotel so i could calm myself down by repeating to myself that each of those people chose for their deceased bodies to be disposed of in that way. i can't stop thinking about what i saw, but i wanted to explore india and that includes the parts that are harder to swallow.



they recently started allowing tourists access to certain temples, so we decided to go inside one called the golden temple. we had to buy marigolds first to give as an offering to shiva. once inside we were pushed into a crowded line of hindus, shuffling around barefoot waiting to rub one statue and throw marigolds at another. cameras were not allowed so you'll have to imagine the chaos.



at dusk, we got a beautiful panoramic view of the city from the free boat ride offered by our hotel. i had to avert my eyes from the cremation ghats, but we got to see the rest of the ghats where people were bathing themselves or meditating. it was nice to be able to observe the craziness of the city from afar. we stayed on the boat an hour longer to watch the big ceremony they perform (possibly nightly) on two of the ghats. select few from the highest caste did some special things with goblets of fire and then later with hawk feathers, accompanied by chants and drumming, ringing bells with the left hand all the while. its a huge deal in varanasi, so everyone gathers to watch. from what i understood it is a tribute to the holy ganges.