KASHI, BANARAS, VARANASI.

BIRLA MANDIR AT BHU

Call it what you want, but for me the city will always remain Banaras. After all what is Banaras without its sarees, its paan, its thugs and the delicious thandai? All are prefaced as "Banarasi", imagine saying Varanasiya saree, Varanasiya Paan. Doesn't sound good, does it?

It has to be either Banaras or Kashi. I have heard that,  "The world is made up of twelve khand(portion) Prithvi and thirteenth khand Kashi." It is said that Kashi is not a part of our Earth, it is a separate entity by itself and is located on the three spokes of the Trishul of Shiva. Kashi is the permanent abode of Shiva, therefore it is also called Kashi Vishwanath. Perhaps this was Shiva's winter capital as Mount Kailash must be quite cold in winter!

GHATS

Banaras is an amazing place. The river seems to be all pervading as if it is  the life line of the place. Perhaps the city exists only because of and only for the River Ganga. There are numerous ghats all along the river bank. One can walk from one ghat to another and yet another for miles at a stretch. The ghats are well lit and quite safe at any time of the day or evening, the continuity of the ghats are unbroken. I took a lovely long late evening walk from the Assi Ghat to the Das-ashwa-medh ghat, although I had to watch almost every step that I took on the Dasashwamedh Ghat as it is practically the abode of a lot of cows and bulls and also dogs. 

TALL BUILDINGS


The entire bank of the river has huge tall buildings all built by Hindu Kings and Rulers, starting from Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore, Scindia of Gwalior, Bajirao Peshwa of Pune, Bhonsle of Nagpur, Jaipur Maharaja, Nepal King, Jodhpur king and many others from all over India. There are two ghats designated for cremation. One is the Manikarnika Ghat which is never ever closed. It is open at all times throughout the day and night,  and the other is Harishchandra Ghat.

ARATI

The city has been a big attraction for travellers and has always had a heavy  foot fall as pilgrims  travel to Varanasi to die, as it is believed that anyone who dies in Varanasi is promised salvation and does not have to endure the cycle of life and death in rebirth. The understanding therefore is that life "has to be endured".

WATCHING ARATI FROM BOATS

A lot of people from neighbouring cities bring their dead for cremation to Varanasi. In earlier times  a lot of widows would also settle down in Varanasi so that they could pass  the rest of their life in prayer and wait for death and salvation.  It is a place where people do not desire much, are satisfied with what they have, have no aspirations as they believe that being born in Varanasi itself is a reward, as once they die they will be free. 

Civic sense is very poor as every disposable thing is thrown anywhere.   The River Varuna which meets the Ganga is more like a rivulet with dirty banks. The only place where one sees some cleanliness, calm and peace is at the Ghats of the river Ganga. Reaching the Dasaswamedh ghat is not easy, as transport  takes us only up to Gowdhaulia Chowk, then one walks about half a kilometre dodging two wheelers, and pedestrians and walking past small mobile shops selling peanuts, bhel and knick knacks. Along the road divider is a board which says clearly  that parking of vehicles, cycles and putting up stalls along the divider is prohibited. But who cares? Two wheelers are parked, and small thelas sell their ware blatantly  right next to the road divider under the board.

ARATI

Once we reach the ghat, one climbs down wide steps to the river, which is filled with boats wanting to take passengers for viewing the Ganga Arati from the river. The charges per passenger is Rs. 200 and the boatman acts as a guide, takes one around a few ghats and then finds a vantage position in front of the  Ghat, moors the boat and waits patiently for the Arati. The Arati is performed by 7 Pujaris dressed uniformly in cream coloured dhoti and maroon sweater in winter. The Arati is a ritual which goes on for an hour and is a visual delight as the priests use multi pronged Diyas, a mashaal, bells and conch to perform the Arati in unison. In the distance one can see that on other ghats too some more  Pujaris  perform the Arati. The veneration of the River is a very ancient custom and could  perhaps have originated so that people would know the importance of the river which is the most important element for any civilisation to survive.

Religion thrives here. It is all about Gods and temples. There are said to be about 33,000 temples in this city, and at every nook and corner and cranny one can see a temple. I do realise that Religion and Gods have given rise to big business, but I was fascinated to see the statue of a God in a row of shops  in between a small shop selling provisions and another selling vegetables. I saw commercialisation at its best! 

THANDAI

Banaras is famous for its simple cuisine too. The food is always fresh as pilgrims come from various parts of India and eat plain and simple food. One of the best known is the Kachori which is available generally before 12 noon. There is a famous gali called "Kachori wali gali" near the Dasaswamedhghat. One gets Thandai at a lot of small shops, where they will add bhaang only if one wants it added. The lassi of Varanasi is very delicious  too. It is more like thick curd. One particular mithai of this place is called Lavang latika. Poori with delicious potato curry cooked without onion or garlic is another very fast moving item.

Unlike Haridwar which is another pilgrimage town on the banks of the Ganga , Varanasi has a lot of non vegetarian eating joints. Possibly because there is a very large Muslim population here.

The famous Banarasi sarees are mostly made by Muslims.

Varanasi is culturally very rich. In the mediaval times Sant Kabirdas lived here. Tulsidas wrote his Ramcharitmanas here. There is a small temple of Hanuman at a ghat named after Tulsidas where they have kept his Khadau(wooden clogs), and where it is said that he sat and wrote the epic. Ravidas another poet, belonging to the cobbler caste also belonged to Banaras.

The famous shehnai player, Bismillah Khan, the famous sitarist Ravi Shankar, his elder brother Uday Shankar old time dancer Sitara Devi , famous Thumri singers Girija devi  and Siddheshwari Devi were all from here. There is a Banaras Gharana of music as well as of Kathak.

Munshi Premchand, Madan Mohan Malviya, Lal Bahadur Shastri also belonged to Varanasi.

NEW BOAT BEING MADE

I was quite fascinated to see the boats being made on the ghat. Since everything has a religious connotation, this work also starts with a Puja. 

BOAT UNDER CONSTRUCTION

My impression of the people of Banaras is that they are  very satisfied with life. They  seem very stress and strife free and easy going.  There is a lot of tranquility and sense of satisfaction here. Perhaps the positive energies of the Banaras people as well as the tremendous amount of faith, and gratitude of those who come for pilgrimage reverberates and gives this sense of peace here. Salvation  seems to be the goal of all the pilgrims who come here.

It is said that in olden days there used to be a lot of clan wars in Banaras and there were a lot of thugs here. One may have to live in Banaras for months together to know if any such people exist now.

HOSTEL AT BHU


As one moves away from the ancient city of Banaras, one steps into the wonderful open campus of the  modern BHU. It is huge and the hostels look very inviting. The campus is very old as the University was established in  1916. There is a lot of difference between the older hostels and the newer hostels. The older hostels had verandas in front of the rooms and access seemed open. The newer hostels are built with a single entry point with grill gates.  It shows clearly how unsafe life has become over the times.   The Birla Mandir in the Campus has a Shivling as against Vishnu in most other Birla Temples. I was quite fascinated to see the spread of the campus and a lot of tea joints with fast moving snacks and groups of students walking around. 

RAMNAGAR FORT

We went across the River to see the Ramnagar Fort, which was built in the 17th Century. There is a museum here and one has to buy an entry ticket of Rs. 20. The artefacts and items kept at the Museum are good but the maintenance of the museum is extremely shabby. As one enters one sees a lot of Palanquins, horse driven carriages, cars and other transports used by the King and queens. Sadly the entire stuff is full of dust and one can even see cobwebs all over the place. The place has not seen a broom or duster in the past several years it seems.

The Gold zari sarees, and clothes of the Maharaja are now getting  tattered. There seems to be no effort by anyone to take care of anything.

 Information about the artefacts and displayed items was very inadequate.

RAMNAGAR FORT

The beautiful side of the Fort is facing the Ganga. 

Banaras, left a lasting impression on me. It is truly like no other city. It is a place which reverberates with Religion, rituals, death and salvation. Death and cremation are taken in their stride, perhaps because it leads to eternal salvation from the cycle of rebirth. I was told by my boatman that you will not see people wailing for their dead, because they consider that the person has attained a higher position and has got "moksh". 

THE INEVITABLE SADHU

It is a strange city, an ancient city, in fact it is said to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, a city that celebrates death and promises salvation. A city which exists around the Ganga and for the Ganga. Ganga they say purifies everything and washes away the sins of every person who bathes in it. Banaras has retained its antiquity, its traditions and rituals. It seems that as the Ganga flows on eternally, so will Banaras go on fascinating people continually. 

BOATS WAITING FOR THE MORNING