Varanasi Vignettes 3

The afternoon is reserved for a visit to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. We have already booked a slot for sugam darshan via online booking. One is not allowed to carry anything inside the temple premises. All the belongings need to be submitted to designated lockers outside the complex. 

It is a shorter--not short-- queue for those availing the sugam darshan. After due security clearance, we join the serpentine queue. The newly constructed corridor inaugurated over a year ago is sizeable and spacious. Throngs of devotees descend on the ancient shrine everyday that is one of the twelve jyotirlingas and is one of the holiest sites for followers of Bhagwan Shiva. The temple has seen many renovations and gone through multiple cycles of rebuilding over last several centuries. Devi Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore who was a great devotee of Shiva, rebuilt the present temple about 250 years ago. 

The queue moves reasonably fast and we get a good darshan of the glistening black shivalinga from outside the garbhagriha. One is supposed to move quickly to make way for others behind. Later, we take a stroll through the corridor and walk up to the steps that descend to the river Ganga flowing below. The corridor connects the Ganga with the shrine along with providing many facilities for the visitors. It has decongested the temple allowing easy movement of people that fill up the premises everyday. A beautiful sculpture of Devi Ahilyabai Holkar occupies a place of pride in the corridor. Just outside the corridor, one can see old houses and structures that give one an idea of what the area looked like before construction of the corridor. The corridor has expanded the temple area from 3,000 square feet to about five lakh square feet and now it can accommodate 50,000 to 75,000 visitors. 

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The visit to Varanasi has been truly fulfilling with the Kashi Vishwanath darshan, morning and evening aartis, boat ride, and visits to the ghats and the Kabir Chaura Math. It has also been satiating in some other ways! The spicy chaats, the delightfully frothy and flavourful malaiyo, crisp jalebis, rich rabdi, and melt-in-the-mouth Banarasi paans to name a few. 

As the short visit comes to an end, it becomes clear that Varanasi will leave a deep imprint on one's mind for years to come. It is only fitting that we receive His abundant blessings on our final ride in the city...perhaps there will be an opportunity to come to Varanasi again?

Photos by Lata

                                        

Varanasi Vignettes 2

Unlike the evening aarti, the morning aarti is a less crowded affair. Part of a beautiful presentation called "Subah-e-Banaras", it takes place at the Assi Ghat every morning in a pre-dawn ceremony. When we start from our hotel to go to the Assi Ghat at an unearthly hour, the road is fairly busy with early risers. People desirous of an early morning darshan of Kashi Vishwanath make way towards the temple. Others walk to the ghats. 

We take an auto rickshaw to take us to the Assi Ghat a couple of kilometres away. The stage is set for the morning do. People take their places on the neatly arranged plastic chairs, others sit on the steps that border the area like a viewing gallery. The riverfront is ready with seven platforms which will be used by the men performing aarti. The breeze is cool and refreshing.

The proceedings start with a melodious recitation of Sanskrit verses by a group of talented schoolgirls. Their pronunciations and intonations of the complex words are bang on underlining the fact that they have taken efforts and worked hard at their presentation. The girls get a deserving applause and make way for the main event of the morning. 

Seven men dressed in co-ordinated dhoti and kurta sets take to the platforms. They start the ritual to the beat of a resounding gong. The horizon is still dark. The movements of the men holding lamps are beautifully synchronised and flowing. It was as if they  

were celebrating the start of another new day, or welcoming the sun or seeking blessings for everyone as they got ready to start their day. 

What a lovely way to begin a day! After the aarti is over, sunrise is still a few minutes away. A young woman takes the stage and starts playing the flute in what is an apt finale to the aarti. A bright orange sun makes its appearance above the horizon across the Ganga. People who have enjoyed the aarti in silence, start clicking pictures of the orange-red orb before dispersing. It is time for kulhads of piping hot ginger tea, and the tea stall outside the ghat beckons one and all!

Photos by Lata

Next stop in the morning is the Kabir Chaura Math. This is where the saint poet spent most of his life. This is a tranquil and serene place, so different from the sounds and crowds around the ghats of Varanasi. The Math is tucked in a narrow alleyway, its walls adorned with beautiful drawings inspired by the saint poet's life. Inside, amidst refreshing greenery, Kabir Sahab's relics are preserved in a temple. Some episodes from his life are illustrated in life-size metallic figures, while the walls feature some of his sayings in Devnagari text. We are fortunate to meet Shri Umesh Kabir who is a spiritual teacher residing at the Math. He shows us around and talks about the saint poet in a lucid way. Feeling completely sated after starting the day at Subah-e-Banaras followed by a visit to the amazing Kabir Chaura Math, we take his leave to get on with the rest of our day. 

To be continued.

Varanasi Vignettes 1

Varanasi evokes a feeling of timelessness in you. The sights and sounds of the old part of the city overwhelm you. No matter how much you have read about the city, no matter how many pictures you have seen taken around the ghats and temples of this ancient city, when you actually see it for yourself, it gets the better of your senses. 

This is not a tourist city where one goes and looks at typical tourist spots. Each person who visits Varanasi experiences it in his or her own way. In my first ever trip, I am only able to scratch the surface of what Varanasi holds inside its myriad lanes and vast expanse of ghats along the meandering Ganga.

Thrilled to be in Varanasi, I start walking the short distance from my hotel towards the ghats. It is early afternoon and the road is packed with people. Lined on both sides with sweet shops and shops selling pooja items and souvenirs, the road is reverberating with the sounds of impatient two-wheeler riders honking shrilly at all times and the general din of the traffic. The road leads to a narrow lane and after a few steps, I find myself emerging on the Rajendra Prasad Ghat, almost next to the well-known Dashashwamedha Ghat.

The place is buzzing with activity. People sitting, standing and walking on the steps, hawkers selling their ware, stray animals roaming around, boatmen trying to lure customers for a boat ride along the ghats, sadhus with painted faces and ash-smeared bodies squatting on mats. There is no telling what you might come across on the ghats. I notice someone sprawled out on his tummy receiving a rigorous massage on his massive back! If one has time, one can walk the ghats to witness such unique scenes that describe the essence of Varanasi.

The river Ganga is gentle and somewhat quiet. Flowing since eternity. Its expanse looks slimmer than what one would imagine it to be. On the other bank is an elaborate tent city consisting of touristy tents. Boats containing excited visitors bob up and down the river that looks a dull shade of gray-green in the early evening light.

At the base of the steps several boats wait to pick up customers for a chakkar of the ghats. An enterprising boatman strikes a deal with us and soon we are on his boat making our way towards the Assi Ghat. The loud whirr of the motor makes it hard to listen to what he is saying, but I am happy with the view his boat offers. The densely packed ghats appear one after the other as the boat glides gently in the cool evening breeze. 

Each ghat is distinct in appearance with its steps touching the

Ganga on one side and a variety of structures ---temples, houses, shops---on the other side. Many of them were built by different royal families for the use of their subjects when they visited Varanasi for performing rituals for their forefathers. It is quite a treat to see ghats of different sizes and colours unfold before you from the boat, each vying for your attention. These huge public spaces define Varanasi and give it its unique identity. Two ghats--Manikarnika and Harishchandra--stand out because of the funeral pyres burning constantly at them. It is an upsetting sight at first. But it is also a lesson in accepting the realities of life and moving on.

Our leisurely ride does a turn-around at Assi Ghat and we return to the point from where we had started. The flight of newly constructed stairs leading to the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor looks impressive. The leaning temple of Ratneshwar Mahadev catches everyone's eye because of its unusual look.

Photos by Lata

Dusk is about to fall. Our boatman joins dozens of other boatmen trying to secure a vantage position for their boats so that the occupants of the boats can get a good view of the evening aarti at the Dashashwamedha Ghat. It is a daily extravaganza that finds place in every visitor's itinerary. After several attempts, our boatman secures a suitable place for his boat and we can see that the ghat is brimming with people seated in anticipation of the aarti. On the other side, boats with eager occupants station themselves waiting for the same. Loud music and announcements precede the aarti. To our dismay, we find that two adjacent ghats prepare for the aarti at the same time with music from them resulting in a disharmonious noise. The proceedings on the two ghats are not in sync with each other. Seven well-built men in traditional attire take positions and wave beautiful multi-tiered lamps at the Ganga in measured movements. It is pleasant and would have been more pleasant had it been accompanied by a single source of music instead of the discordant sounds from the neighboring ghat.

The completion of aarti brings an end to the grand spectacle. Satisfied with having ticked an item off their itinerary, people start leaving the boats and the ghats. The Ganga continues to flow quietly, as it has been doing since time immemorial. Soon, the sun will kiss its waters turning it into liquid gold and another day will dawn... the cycle will go on.

To be continued.