“Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together. — Mark Twain”
I still remember the cover of Lonely Planet with a picture taken from above of the Ghats of Varanasi, and I perfectly remember the incredible emotion I felt when I saw those Ghats in person. I had never been to India before then, but Varanasi had always had a “mystical” attraction on me, and finally I was there.
From the first light of dawn until sunset, life flows slowly along the steps of the ghats. Priests and fortune tellers impart mantras to the believers who consult them. Hundreds of Sadhus meditate, practice yoga or simply spend their ascetic life by the river.
Someone would take a bath, some others would sing and others pray. Life seems to start and end by that same river.
Some little girls sell candles. They are left to drift on the divine “Mother Ganga”, bringing with them the wishes of the person who bought them. The further the current brings the flame, the more prosperity they will have.
Varanasi is the sacred city where every Hindu has to go at least once in their lives and plunge into the sacred river Ganges from at least five different ghats (there are 87 in Varanasi).
Every morning at dawn, the Hindus immerse themselves in the river and perform their ancient salute to the sun. There is a chance to witness this incredible moment, by paying one of the many boatmen who will “immerse” you in another dimension where, just for an hour, time will seem to have stopped.
You will also have the opportunity to see the crematory ghat of Manikarnika, the most famous ghat in Benares.
For centuries, millions of Hindus have gone to the sacred city to die, in order to escape the eternal cycle of death and rebirth (samsara) and reach Nirvana.
The families that cannot afford cremation throw the bodies of their loved ones directly in the Ganges and in some cases they burn an effigy symbolizing their cremation.
The burial, instead, is practiced only for a few categories such as victims of suicide, murder or death for other types of violence. It is believed that, regardless of the ritual that is performed, their soul will never find peace.
Just a few kilometers from Varanasi, Sarnath is a pleasant stop: a small oasis of peace and nature. Sarnath is the abbreviation of Saranganatha, “lord of the deers”, and refers to a legend according to which Buddha, in a previous life, was a deer who offered himself to the king of Kashi in place of a pregnant deer he had caught. In memory of this event, the king gave the place the name of Mrigadava (“park of the deer”).
Here, the Buddha gave his first teaching after enlightenment and later Buddhism spread throughout India.
