Tuesday - Wednesday, 18 - 19 November 2014, Varanasi
BeeBee has wanted to see the Ganges at Varanasi for a long time. It is a "must see" in India for tourists as well as for every Hindu
To die and be cremated on the banks of the Ganges is the wish of every Hindu. Second best is to be cremated elsewhere with the ashes sprinkled on the Ganges at a later time. Varanasi is a city of death, with cremations every day on two of the ghats (steps). (Pati and BeeBee were told by several people that there were 600 cremations a day, but other sources say an average of 80 a day. This number is more consistent with what they saw, i.e., 12 at the two sites.) The major business of the city is death (the second is the manufacture of silk products), as families bring their departed, buy the burial cloths, carry the wrapped bodies through the city streets to the banks of the Ganges (e.g., on top of a tuk-tuk), buy the firewood, build the funeral pyre, perform the required rituals, and finally light the fire itself. Only men can take part in the cremation ceremony. The family waits until the body is comsumed or until 3 hours are passed. The time limit is due to the large demand for funeral pyres and the smaller amount of space on the ghats. The parts of the body taking the longest amount of time to burn are the scapula for men and the pelvis for women. Any bone material not consumed by the fire in the time allowed is doused with Ganges water and then placed into the Ganges by the closest male relative.The remaining charred wood and outer burial wrap are collected by untouchables and taken away.
There is an electric crematorium at the site of the smaller of the burning ghats, but for various reason (e.g., maintenance problems, religious beliefs, denigration by the firewood salesman that would lose money) is rarely used. According to a news story in 2012, cremation by electric crematorium costs about 500 rupees (less than $10 USD) while traditional cremation costs 5000 to 6000 rupees. Electric cremation is also better for the health of the Ganges.
The itinerary for Varanasi included both an evening cruise and a morning cruise on the Ganges. Tuesday evening after dark, Pati and BeeBee observed cremations on the larger ghat (Manikarnika Ghat) from the boat, and then returned to the launch point to watch the Ganges Aarti (a religious ceremony with 12 priests-in-training simultaneously performing the same set of rituals). Early Wednesday morning, they first observed most of the ritual for the cremation of a small adult at the smaller cremation ghat (Harish Chandra Ghat); as soon as the fire was lit, they left to observe a spectacular sunrise. Their guide is an amateur photographer (on Facebook: Kashi on Lotus) and helped them compose pictures integrating the rising sun, other boats, birds, and reflections in the Ganges. The guide bought small bags of seeds from a passing boat vendor and used them to attract birds to fight for the seeds on the water: this made excellent photo-taking opportunities.
The complete itinerary was to be completed over three days: the afternoon of the first day, the whole second day, and the morning of the third day before the outgoing flight. It was a packed itinerary and the guide completed it by 4 pm of the second day, skipping lunch. Pati and BeeBee didn't mind, since the Ganges itself was their main interest. For completeness on the blog, we shall say that they also visited the Hindu University at Benares, the Mother India temple (containing only a huge marble map of India), and the Buddist city of Sarnath. And took a city tour. And visited several shops.
On Tuesday morning, the guide told BeeBee that her accent was hard to understand, but she was probably understood back home. On Tuesday afternoon, he told Pati the same thing. This might explain why he had difficulty answering questions at times. And why he seemed to give up at some point on Tuesday afternoon.
BeeBee has wanted to see the Ganges at Varanasi for a long time. It is a "must see" in India for tourists as well as for every Hindu
To die and be cremated on the banks of the Ganges is the wish of every Hindu. Second best is to be cremated elsewhere with the ashes sprinkled on the Ganges at a later time. Varanasi is a city of death, with cremations every day on two of the ghats (steps). (Pati and BeeBee were told by several people that there were 600 cremations a day, but other sources say an average of 80 a day. This number is more consistent with what they saw, i.e., 12 at the two sites.) The major business of the city is death (the second is the manufacture of silk products), as families bring their departed, buy the burial cloths, carry the wrapped bodies through the city streets to the banks of the Ganges (e.g., on top of a tuk-tuk), buy the firewood, build the funeral pyre, perform the required rituals, and finally light the fire itself. Only men can take part in the cremation ceremony. The family waits until the body is comsumed or until 3 hours are passed. The time limit is due to the large demand for funeral pyres and the smaller amount of space on the ghats. The parts of the body taking the longest amount of time to burn are the scapula for men and the pelvis for women. Any bone material not consumed by the fire in the time allowed is doused with Ganges water and then placed into the Ganges by the closest male relative.The remaining charred wood and outer burial wrap are collected by untouchables and taken away.
There is an electric crematorium at the site of the smaller of the burning ghats, but for various reason (e.g., maintenance problems, religious beliefs, denigration by the firewood salesman that would lose money) is rarely used. According to a news story in 2012, cremation by electric crematorium costs about 500 rupees (less than $10 USD) while traditional cremation costs 5000 to 6000 rupees. Electric cremation is also better for the health of the Ganges.
The itinerary for Varanasi included both an evening cruise and a morning cruise on the Ganges. Tuesday evening after dark, Pati and BeeBee observed cremations on the larger ghat (Manikarnika Ghat) from the boat, and then returned to the launch point to watch the Ganges Aarti (a religious ceremony with 12 priests-in-training simultaneously performing the same set of rituals). Early Wednesday morning, they first observed most of the ritual for the cremation of a small adult at the smaller cremation ghat (Harish Chandra Ghat); as soon as the fire was lit, they left to observe a spectacular sunrise. Their guide is an amateur photographer (on Facebook: Kashi on Lotus) and helped them compose pictures integrating the rising sun, other boats, birds, and reflections in the Ganges. The guide bought small bags of seeds from a passing boat vendor and used them to attract birds to fight for the seeds on the water: this made excellent photo-taking opportunities.
The complete itinerary was to be completed over three days: the afternoon of the first day, the whole second day, and the morning of the third day before the outgoing flight. It was a packed itinerary and the guide completed it by 4 pm of the second day, skipping lunch. Pati and BeeBee didn't mind, since the Ganges itself was their main interest. For completeness on the blog, we shall say that they also visited the Hindu University at Benares, the Mother India temple (containing only a huge marble map of India), and the Buddist city of Sarnath. And took a city tour. And visited several shops.
On Tuesday morning, the guide told BeeBee that her accent was hard to understand, but she was probably understood back home. On Tuesday afternoon, he told Pati the same thing. This might explain why he had difficulty answering questions at times. And why he seemed to give up at some point on Tuesday afternoon.
