Auli -> Rishikesh -> Corbett National Park -> Varanasi -> Agra
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On my second day in the city, I woke up early to take the famed early morning boat ride on the Ganga. I walked down to Assi ghat at 5.30 in the morning. There were already many people next to the river. Scouting around a bit, I found a bunch of boatmen waiting for customers. After a short discussion with themselves about who should get me, one of them started a conversation with me. He started in Hindi, but he did not seem to be appealed by my broken Hindi and decided to speak broken English instead! Being my first boat ride here, I did not know much about the place but my guidebook had given me an idea of the prices.
At first, I said vaguely –
‘I want to go till the other end and come back’
‘That will take four hours. At Rs.150 per hour, it will be Rs.600,’ he replied.
The numbers looked way too high. And I did not want a four-hour ride anyway.
‘Not for four hours. Let’s only make it two hours. One hour for going and one hour coming’
‘Okay, I will take you up to Manikarnika ghat. That will be one hour from here. Rs.300 for two hours’
We haggled a bit. My guidebook suggested a price of Rs.60 per hour and he was way off that mark. Finally he agreed for Rs.150 for two hours and we got on to the boat.
During the early morning boat ride
It was just before dawn and the east was turning from dark to orange. There was some activity on the ghats but very few boats on the river. As we moved into the middle of the river, I noticed a kid with a small boat that was just big enough to fit him in. He rowed towards us and I watched him wondering what is he up to. He came close to us, nearly touching our boat and asked if I would like to buy ‘deep’. I was mighty impressed with his entrepreneurship and dedication to work. Later while we were coming back, I saw a couple of bigger boat where they hooked on to tourist boats and sold small statues and other souvenirs.
A view of the ghats
Sunrise over the Ganges was beautiful. As the sun moved upwards, more and more people walked on the ghats to have a dip in the Ganges, pray to sun god and perform morning meditations. Groups of men and woman walked into the river, took the customary holy dip, murmured prayers and climbed back up. Yogis sat cross-legged with rudraksha mala. Men and women squatted with eyes closed and hands held together in prayer. The ghats were live with activity.
A hermit in prayer
women praying…
Ganga looked calm and still with little flow in this early summer. My boatman Naresh told me that she flows fast and furious in the monsoons and the water level rises much higher. Sadly, the industrial waste flowing in from Kanpur and other cities upstream ensured that the water was dark, polluted and repulsive. My dream of swimming for hours in the deep waters of the Ganga had to remain unfulfilled.
A woman praying…
After nearly two hours, we returned to Assi Ghat where I was staying. The two-hour boat ride was an excellent preview of Varanasi. I was introduced to the magical enchantment of the religious Varanasi and at the same time was subjected to the stark realities of depletion of the holy river.
Read more about Varanasi on paintedstork.com
* Images of Varanasi
* Travelling to Varanasi from Corbett
* Arriving at Varanasi
* Many perceptions of Varanasi
* First day at the ghats
* Boat ride on the Ganges
* An encounter on the ghats
* Photo Essay: Ganga Aarti
* Life on the ghats
* About Varanasi
Auli -> Rishikesh -> Corbett National Park -> Varanasi -> Agra
+Previous: Many perceptions of Varanasi
+Next: Boat ride on the Ganges
+Go to beginning of the series
I came out of my guesthouse that is pretty close to the river and the ghats. A girl tries to sell me deep – small flower bowl with a wick lamp to float on the river. I see an old woman going around a sacred ficus tree. The tree is colored yellow with turmeric all over the trunk and many small threads circles around the trunk. Making a pradakshina around the trunk of peepul tree, binding a thread around its trunk and smearing turmeric on its trunk is a practice that is followed by women all around India.
A woman goes around peepul tree
I move ahead towards Assi ghat and see several boatmen waiting for customers. A tourist is haggling to get a fair price while the boatman is aiming for the best price. There seems to be an equal mix of tourists and locals on the ghats. A baba chases away a dog that is trying to pull out some of his belongings, and a few seconds later feeds that same dog, unmindful of its deeds. A man is half immersed in the Ganga, praying to sun god. A tourist accompanied by a guide is looking for some bhang and is not able to find any. But I see him on the street next morning, completely doped and acting out of his mind. Several boatmen are asking the people walking on the ghats – “sir, do you want a boat?” There are many boats docked and many more engaged.
A view of the ghats
I move on and see a small animal kingdom ahead. Water buffalos are having whale of a time in the river. Something suddenly surfaces from the water and disappears before I have a good look at it. I presume it is the Gangetic Dolphin, and am glad they have still survived in the polluted water. There is a large population of bank mynahs making a ruckus like they always do. A few parakeets lookout from their holes on the wall. Monkeys squat high on ghats. They seem to prefer top of the buildings to trees.
Water buffalo and Mynahs
I meet a professional photographer on the way. We sit and chat for a while and decide to catch up over dinner. A couple of boatmen walk by and check if we want to go on a boat. A little further, children are playing cricket. The guy with the bat is good; he dishes out two sixers in succession. Sometimes the ball falls in the river and one of the fielders jumps between boats till he can reach for the ball without getting his feet wet. I recalled someone telling me at Rishikesh about street cricket. He showed me an image of a game of street cricket on his camera and said, “for me, this is what the real India is like”.
Monkey business!
I walked slowly for an hour, looking around and seeing the Varanasi that attracts thousands of pilgrims and tourists. I was tired by the time I reached Dasaswamedh ghat and stopped for some refreshments. I was about to return to my guesthouse, but stopped for some more time when I realized that a Ganga Aarathi is about to begin. I watched the aarti for sometime, and tired that I was, returned to have some dinner and end my day.
Read more about Varanasi on paintedstork.com
* Images of Varanasi
* Travelling to Varanasi from Corbett
* Arriving at Varanasi
* Many perceptions of Varanasi
* First day at the ghats
* Boat ride on the Ganges
* An encounter on the ghats
* Photo Essay: Ganga Aarti
* Life on the ghats
* About Varanasi
Auli -> Rishikesh -> Corbett National Park -> Varanasi -> Agra
+Previous: Arriving at Varanasi
+Next: First day at the ghats
+Go to beginning of the series
Varanasi has many faces. For some it is a holy city and a must visit pilgrimage. For some it is a place to experience India’s cultural diversity. Some come here to learn fine arts and a lot many come in search of making a living.
When I announced that Varanasi is one of the places I am planning to visit, many people had questions to ask. My aunts wanted to know if I am going on a pilgrimage, and my mother snubbed them and responded that I am just travelling(him? Pilgrimage? ). My sister-in-law asked me what I am planning to leave behind in Varanasi. Traditionally, a pilgrim to Varanasi leaves behind something very dear to him, indicating a recessive attitude to earthly matters. I told her that this nomadic has no possession but himself to be relieved of. Not true, of course! Varanasi, or Kashi as it was once called, has been a traditional destination of the spiritually inclined and is a must-do pilgrimage for the devout Hindu. My father insisted that I visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple, and called up every day I was there, to make sure I did. I was there at the night of Maha Shivaratri, a festival dedicated to the lord of Kashi. He wanted me to visit the temple then, but I was deterred by the crowd of thousands who would like to be at the temple on the auspicious night, and preferred to postpone my visit. Pilgrims to Kashi have many things to do beyond the visit to Vishwanatha temple or a traditional holy dip in the Ganges. They make offering to the forefathers in heaven, pray to sun god, perform pooja or just meditate.
Ghats of Varanasi
Photographers throng Varanasi from all over the world to capture the essence of India’s religious life. While most of these people come to experience and capture something that they don’t get to see in their daily life – like the bathing in the Ganges, the aartis and other rituals, only a few good men manage to go beyond documenting these activities and capture the essence of the vibrant Varanasi. I had long discussions with a professional photographer and made my preparations of what to expect at Varanasi that can feed my camera. But in the end of my five day visit, I realized that one short visit can serve to be no more than an introduction of what Varanasi is. There are other tourists who come here to witness the India in their minds, to learn music and other fine arts, or just to see the place and enjoy a boat ride.
Boat ride on the ganges
Locals never call their city as Varanasi. When I asked my boatman Naresh about how they prefer to call their city, he said it is either Benaras or Kashi, in that order.
“So you never call it Varanasi?”
“No, we don’t call it Varanasi”
Pilgrims and tourist have given livelihood to many people like the boatmen in Varanasi. But like everywhere in India, there is more supply of services than demand, and competition is high. You won’t manage to take a walk on the ghats without a boatman offering his services. When you walk on the streets, there are rickshaw-wallas who look at you with a hopeful eye. And the variety of merchandise on the streets varies from simple flowers of offering to expensive banarasi silk. Guidebooks don’t fail to warn the tourist of the dangers from strangers too. Varanasi is a city of many people, many immigrants, pilgrims and travellers. Some one I met mentioned that the city has a charm that holds people when they come in, and they find it difficult to leave. It is hard to disagree, especially when so many people come to Varanasi just to die on the bank of river Ganga.
Read more about Varanasi on paintedstork.com
* Images of Varanasi
* Travelling to Varanasi from Corbett
* Arriving at Varanasi
* Many perceptions of Varanasi
* First day at the ghats
* Boat ride on the Ganges
* An encounter on the ghats
* Photo Essay: Ganga Aarti
* Life on the ghats
* About Varanasi