Varanasi - hell on earth?
30/03/2012 18:53
Well, the traffic is quite violent. But I'm very accustomed to it so I force my way past the cows, cycle rickshaws, tuk tuk's, cars, people over people, dogs, and what else is crawling around in India's major cities.
I wonder how I can stand the swiss order in road traffic ... Do I then drive like a maniac too? :)
Index:
- Luxury camper
- Varanasi
- Burning Ghat's
- Good bye Varanasi, Good bye India
Luxury camper
Of course we will live our reputation as luxury camper and head for the Hotel Surya. This was recommended to us by Mark and it even has a swimming pool. The relatively luxurious hotel allows us to park in the courtyard for a not insignificant sum. Our roof tent in the beautiful courtyard of hotel of course pulls dumbfounded guests to our car.
We are not using the swimming pool, cause it is just to cold here. Our thermometer shows 5° Celsius in the night. We are getting up north :)
Varanasi
Hell on earth? The horror of India? The dirtiest city in the world? According to our guide book you need a lot of nerve to visit Varanasi. We think, Varanasi is just a normal Indian metropolis, chaotic, noisy, dirty and colorful. In short, Indian's pure life. Since we are moving with the car through such cities most of the time, Varanasi is in general nothing new for us.
Very impressive was the Ghat's on the river Ganges. The holy river in the holy city attracts millions of Hindus who wanna take a bath in the holy water, or even drink the ultra dirty water. Everywhere you can buy cans of different size to take the holy dirt water to there home.
Burning Ghat's
For every faithful Hindu a funeral in Varanasi leads directly to Nirvana. You will break out from the eternal cycle of rebirth and now enjoys the heavenly life. Thus, on the Ganges, the corpses of hundreds or thousands of people are burned daily at special burning Ghat's. Many people and families traveling from far away to Varanasi to send there relative to the Nirvana.
Wood seller at the Ghat's sell exactly the necessary amount of wood to burn the body completely. Has a family too little money, then it may happen that the semi burned body is placed in the flows of the Ganges.
The wooden timber's are piled ready when the death, with colored cloths and flower covered body, is brought with music and spoken mantras to the Ghat's. A small ceremony is held before the fire is lit. Women are not tolerated at the Ghat's, because their great sadness may deter the soul of the deceased of traveling to Nirvana.
For me the burning, the emotions, the atmosphere at the Ghat's was very touching. I could not watch for a long time on the one hand because of the direct confrontation with the death and on the other hand, out of respect for the deceased and their families.
Good bye Varanasi, Good bye India
We did not stay long in Varanasi, our goal is near and the mountain are calling. We ride the last 350km of the border in two stages, and say good bye to India for one or two month. It was like the last time, a loud hectic and difficult but also colorful, interesting and enjoyable time.
LINK TO THE PHOTOS: click here