Another early morning after a late night. We left the hotel at 5:30 on the dot to join the other pilgrims as they head to the Ghats for the holy dip. Some were already coming back and the ghat was a hive of activity with people brushing their teeth with a tree-branch sold specially for that purpose and others in various stages of undress preparing either for the dip, or the temple visit following the dip.
According to my guide the morning dip is very auspicious under the golden gaze of the rising sun (also one of the MANY Hindu deities). Seeing the elderly in the cold water tugged at the heart-strings, but they looked so at peace. With my western mind and recent hot shower fresh in my memory I found it hard to relate.
As there were no cremations when the boat passed the cremation areas, it was acceptable to take photographs. Photos of cremations are deemed disrespectful and severely frowned upon. When we walked passed the main area back to the road the brutal reality struck me as we passed inches from a body wrapped in bright material – the first ‘customer’ of the new day.
I was face to face with the India most people have in their minds – It’s either “slumdog millionaire” or the iconic lonely figure of Lady Diana in front of the Taj Mahal.
This little vignette of India cannot be whitewashed, it is what it is – claustrophobic, unsanitary, delapidated and smelly. Alleyways crammed with people, trash, animals and animal byproducts. After emerging to the relatively open street for the first time i understood the astroturf-like floormat in the car we drove… quite the ingenious idea.
Yet hidden amoung the squalour are gems like the one my guide took me to see – off a courtyard at the end of maze. There, next to a small local eatery and the cow shed – fuel cowpats drying against the fence, is a exquisitely carved sandstone temple. This country is full of surprises if you are prepared to look beyond the surface.
We returned to the hotel for breakfast and an opportunity to quickly recharge my camera battery. There were no Indian sweets at all this morning in the buffet and i tried a piece of the bacon – it was very salty and the smell reminded me of the riverbank. Maybe what they say is true… It may take me a while before I’ll be able to touch pork again.
Next we headed out to Sarnath – the birthplace of Buddism, as this is where he did his first teaching to four monks after receiving enlightenment. The non-violent Buddists fled the region when the Moguls invaded, but subsequently various pilgrims have returned to the region. The Indian government has provided land to various Buddist countries to build temples and schools for their communities. We visited the Siri-Lankan temple where a second generation offspring of the tree under which he found enlightenment was planted and now stands proudly.
Here I had the opportunity to do something I’ve always wanted to do ever-since the first time I saw it – turn a prayer-wheel. There is something calming and extremely satisfying in this simple action.
Against the stupa are prayer flags – their movement in the wind is supposed to send the prayers to heaven. They are inscribed with various prayers – one from a brother asking that his brother’s wish to become a doctor be granted. The other from parents wishing for the happiness of their children. One english one was heart-breaking parents wishing that their son will catch up with his development and live a 100% normal life.
We visited the active archeological site, set in what was once a deer-park. Despite requests pilgrims still put goldleaf offerings on the ruins. Various Buddhist monks in white and orange garb dot the site.
The museum exhibits the artifacts and statutes found on the site. Most deliberately ruined by the Moguls as they knew that Hindu’s and Buddhists will not pay homage to a ‘imperfect’ statue and in Muslim religion representations of living things are forbidden – so faces of animals and humans are destroyed.
Lastly it was the Thai temple with its 82 foot Buddha statue. The statue is recent – four years old, the temple is much older.
We visited an artists shop where I purchased a small soapstone Buddha and had the honour to meet the artist who did the carving.
Then we went to look at a co-op that produces Varanasi’s speciality – Silk weaving. Every Hindu woman must have a least one Varanasi Silk Sari in her collection. The work is intricate, time consuming and very beautiful.
As I was not feeling well and it was very hot I decided to call it a day – no fort visit for me – besides I spent the fort-visit money on a (pink) scarf.
We headed back to the hotel where it was goodbye to the driver and the guide. It is not certain which driver will do the airport transfer tomorrow.
In the hotel I took some medicine (purchased from a roadside pharmacist earlier). had some tea and fell asleep. I woke up hungry (did not feel like eating earlier) and decided to go for early supper in the coffee-shop.
First some shopping – I wanted to get some postcards and ended up with quite a few small nick-naks for the family. The postcards were written while waiting for my egg/chicken fried rice.
If you’re blonde, you’re really blonde. I tried to get the bluetooth between cellphone and ipad working – with no success only to realize that I can use the personal hotspot function on the Ipad to upload data to the internet via my phone. After this epiphany I uploaded this morning’s pics onto Facebook. The pic of the monk in his saffron garb sitting on the platfom outlined by the rising sun is one of my favorites.
They pick me up at 11:00, so tomorrow morning is a sleep-in and late breakfast. Maybe I’ll get some reading done tonight. Thank heavens all the reading material is on the Ipad, I would be really despondent if I had lugged a book all around India and not read much more than 3 pages to date 😛
Tomorrow – Kama Sutra in stone (after a short flight). I hope my guide has a sense of humour as this visit could get REALLY awkward.
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