We arrived in the afternoon into Varanasi, the quintessential Indian holy city where millions of Hindu travel, for pilgrimage, to worship, to mourn or to die. During our time in Varanasi we got to see rituals of bathing and burnings as you float past the numerous ghats of the River Ganges. Varanasi is also known as Banaras, Benaras, Kashi, and Kasi. Varanasi has a unique culture, quite different from other places in the region. This culture has developed through thousands of years during which it has been one of the major cultural centres of northern India. Everything revolves around the river Ganga, which is the heart and soul of the city.
The legends, myths and aura surrounding Varanasi led Mark Twain to famously remark. "Benaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together". Varanasi is the oldest continually inhabited city in the world, dating back thousands of years. Varanasi seems to encapsulate all of India within its boundaries. Life and death go hand in hand in Varanasi: in among the bathing ghats, smoke rising from the cremation grounds signals the final release of tormented souls from the earthly round of samsara, the unceasing cycles of death and rebirth.
The culture of Varanasi is deeply associated with the river Ganges, its reigning deity Lord Shiva and its religious importance; the city has been a cultural and religious center in northern India for thousands of years. Varanasi is a pure vegetarian town – NO eggs, NO meat or fish and NO alcohol (within a certain distance of the river Ganges).
There are about more than 100 ghats altogether, they cover 6km of the river from Assi ghat as far as Adi Keshava Ghat near the Malviya Bridge. They are a celebration of life and the time -honoured rites of passage.
We stayed in Varanasi on January 1st and 2nd. We were supposed to take an overnight train back to Delhi on the 3rd and arrive early morning January 4th but there was intense fog all over North India, which caused the train to delay over 13 hours. Since I had a flight from Delhi to Bangalore the following day I had to hop on a plane to take me to Delhi so I wouldn't miss my flight to Banalgore. So I said goodbye to Varanasi, my traveling companions, and my three week trip through North India on the afternoon of the 3rd.... What an amazing three weeks! I hope you have enjoyed the photos!
