Varanasi, Part I - The Spirituality

When we left Calcutta, Lisa and I took an all-day train to Varanasi. This is one of the most spiritul cities in India and a pilgrimage site for both Hindus and Buddhists.

For Buddhists, there is Sarnath, a small town about 30-minutes away. This is where the Buddha gave his first-ever sermon. We went there one afternoon and visited the stupa that marks the site in Deer Park where the Buddha is believed to have first expounded his beliefs to disciples.

The real attraction of Varanasi, however, is for Hindus, for it is here that millions of people come to bathe in the sacred Ganges River, or to die and then be cremated on the banks of the river.

A remarkable experience is to take a sunrise boat trip on the Ganges. When we arrived at the river at 5 a.m. we had many offers from boat owners to take us on a one-hour trip. The first view of the Ganges at that hour is stunning. As we emerged from the narrow streets of the old town onto the ghats (steps) that led to the river, the sight of the sun rising over the silvery-orange water was spine-tingling. The morning haze is just lifting at that hour and there is an otherworldy glow to the whole scene.

A while later, as our long, thin rowboat silently plied the sacred waters, we watched as hundreds of people bathed, prayed, meditated and did yoga along the Ganges. Others, meanwhile, were engaged in more secular activities – fishing, or washing clothes - but the great majority of people were on the river for spiritual purposes. Here are some of the early morning bathers...



Some of the ghats are specially designated for cremations, and as we made our trip down the river we saw a body wrapped in a red robe lying atop a simple wooden funeral pyre, watched over by family members. On the return journey, we saw a flame and a plume of smoke rising from the spot where the body had recently been.

Praying, bathing, and dying. In Varanasi, the rituals of life are conducted out in the open, for all to see.