It’s 9am. People, vehicles and animals take up every square inch when we exit the train station in Varanasi after our overnight train trip from Agra. Beeping horns, revving engines, barking dogs and voices are nonstop. Welcome to Varanasi.

Varanasi is the most spiritual place in India. It is has every aspect of India but magnified. Very intense.

After loading our luggage and ourselves into three tuk tuks, we travel through some of the craziest, heavy traffic that we’ve seen so far …and that’s saying a lot.

I put on my facemask because with the heavier traffic comes more pollution.

After being in an arid, desert climate for so long, it’s strange to suddenly be in a much more humid place.

Our accommodation, Hotel Haifa, is ideally located, just a short walk from the Assi ghat (water steps) on the banks of the Ganges River. Unfortunately, although fairly clean, our room is rather dismal with peeling paint, a frosted window facing a wall and no attempt at style. However, we do have warm showers and the hotel restaurant is tasty.

After a quick shower, we head to the nearby Open Hand Cafe. This gem is a sea of peace amongst all the chaos and serves delicious food and really good coffee.

Intro to the Ghats

After our brunch Garima takes us for an orientation walk to the ghats. I stick close to her as we walk in the traffic as well as keeping an eye to the ground for uneven steps, oozy cow plops, dog poo and unknown substances.

Varanasi is India’s most spiritual place and the heart of it is around the ghats. We are staying near Assi Ghat which is one of the largest ghats. Assi Ghat is located at the south end of the row of 84 ghats that line one side of the river bank. 

We pass many people submerging themselves in the river for religious purposes or bathing (some with soap). Other people are washing their clothes and drying them anywhere they can find a sunny spot on the ghats.

We see beggars and homeless people as well as other people trying to sell their goods to tourists. One guy wrapped in cloth, cleans his teeth with a stick that he chews and then pulls something out of his wildly matted hair, studies it and flicks it away. Yuck.

There are also many families and people visiting for spiritual reasons. Every Hindu needs to immerse in the Ganges and worship at the Shree Kashish Vishwanath Temple at least once in their lives.

There are lots and lots of stray dogs roaming around…some look pretty mangy. There are also many cows, monkeys and goats.

Cremation on the Ganges

Of the 84 ghats, four of them are used for cremations. Many Hindus come here to die and be cremated because they believe that this is where Shiva will meet them and if deserving they can go straight to Nirvana instead of being reincarnated. On the average, there are five hundred cremations here per day.

In the rest of India, cremations only take place between dawn and dusk but because Varanasi is so holy, cremations are done 24/7 except during monsoon season.

We stop at one of the quieter cremation ghats. A number of fires are burning.  There are two bodies on pallets. Only male family members and the cremation workers (The Untouchables) are in the immediate area. We watch from a distance. Some tourists take pictures but that is in poor taste. This is someone’s loved one. One tourist has even had the nerve to go amongst the family members to get a better look. Some people have no class.

The family remove the garlands of marigolds from on top of the body and throw them onto a pile. Immediately a couple goats show up and start eating the flowers. The cremation site is strewn with piles of tattered lame, wilted flowers and burnt wood.

Food is placed out to ensure that a few holy cows attend the cremation. The cows seem unconcerned with the fires.

After the flowers are removed, they take the gold lame cloths off the body which lies on the shore of the Ganges. The family men take turns cupping water from the river and pouring it over the body. They then circle the body a number of times before walking a bit away. An old man with white hair and moustache moves slowly, his face a study of sadness.

The cremation workers place the body on an already burning pyre. We move without speaking to see the other ghats.

Onto the Blue Lassi

Every now and then we pass a few areas with smells more pungent than I’ve noticed so far in India….mostly urine smells. I use a fragrance stick which some friends gave me for the trip. Most of the time things smell fine.

Another ghat appears to have a school for young Brahmin priests. They wear orange robes. Priests are allowed to marry.

We still continue to get stopped by Indian people for pictures.

Dasaswamedh Ghat is the main non-cremation ghat and is filled with vendors and other characters-  great for people watching. This ghat is  also recognizable by the two blue water pump towers painted with the faces of Hindu gods. 

We follow a local guide away from the ghats and into the narrow maze of alleys that border the ghats. I don’t know how they manage to get so many motorcycles (no cars or tuk tuks), cows, bikes and pedestrians through such small spaces.

The Blue Lassi Cafe is where we take a break. This non-descript place is open to a busy alley. We squish into some seats with other people “in the know”. This place is reputed to sell the best lassis in India. The menu is huge. I choose strawberry pomegranate and John chooses strawberry. We write our orders on a small piece of paper. A guy in the front mashes the berries and yoghurt together with a mortar and pestle.

The lassis are served in clay cups which are smashed after one use, recycled and made into new cups. This gives people jobs and is more environmentally friendly. They also do this for the chai cups. People say it improves the flavour of the lassi or chai. We see this practice all over India.

The Blue Lassi alley leads to Manikarnika Ghat, the main cremation ghat. Because vehicles cannot fit into the alleys, people bring their loved ones bodies to the edge of the area and the male family members walk the bodies to the cremation ghat on a stretcher covered in gold lame and flowers while chanting.

It is rather surreal to be happily sitting there drinking our lassis as these bodies keep moving past…not to mention all the other animals and traffic on the street. Sometimes cows have to be smacked on their butts so that they move and the funeral procession can pass.

I think surreal is the best way to describe Varanasi.

Away from the Noise

Wishes on the Water

And then we head back to the ghats. Women are selling dried banana leaf bowls filled with flowers and a small candle. These are an offering to the gods (in this case Mother Ganges). You also make a wish when you put it into the water.

Garima has a boat waiting for us on the river and we head out for a sunset cruise. Our boat belches out a lot of black smoke when the motor is on. 

After dark we make our wishes, place our candles in the river and watch them float away. On shore I see the many fires at the main cremation ghat; the floating candles are hopes for the future, each cremation fire the end of a life.

As we move off, our candles twinkle like fairy lights on the water.

Every sunrise and sunset Brahmin priests perform a worship service called Aarti at some of the main ghats except for the four cremation ghats. For Aarti, separate platforms are set up in a row for each priest and they perform a synchronized ritual to music and chanting. These priests need to be young and strong since they are slowly lifting and swirling heavy silver vessels lit with many lamps and the ceremony lasts for over thirty minutes.

Our boat driver ties our boat to one of the many boats at the edge of the shore. There are probably more than fifty boats tied together all watching the Aarti. During the service a priest hops from boat to boat and blesses people. He blesses Paul, Garima, Jasmine and John, then looks at me and totally walks on. I’m perplexed, do I have 666 emblazoned on my forehead?