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As the Ganga Flows Through Varanasi’s Ghats… After trying at few places we managed to find one – Sarin Inn, a boutique hotel with gawdy looking interiors and a shrewd man at the reception. The deal was for Rs 1650 with tax, (the best available at that time) the room was decent, although the bathroom didn’t have a working geyser and the service was below standard. Since we were only there for a night, there was no room for complaints. After a spicy dinner at the hotel, we called it a night. There was a sense of excitement mixed with feeling of weariness, but the bottom line was we were moving closer to our destination – Nepal – that was sufficient to keep us going. The next day we planned to check out before noon and drive to Gorakhpur, but the shady looking male receptionist managed to convince us to take tour of the Ghats and the popular temples, which makes the city so holy. “How can you go without visiting Kashi Vishwanath temple?” It was Clyde’s first visit to Banaras, and since Gorakhpur was relatively closer, just around 200 km – we took a rickshaw ride from the hotel at Cantonment to the Ghats and back for Rs 300. The Varanasi Ghats In ancient times, this place was called Kashi, then it became Varanasi, because of its location between two rivers Varana and Asi. Later it was called Benares, and in 1956 it was re-named Varanasi. Its also the place of pilgrim for Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, and its culture closely related to the River Ganges. The road leading to the ghats and Ganges is through a narrow bylane reminiscent of an old city – temples, food stalls selling local snacks and sweets, houses mushroomed next to each other, sadhus donning their saffron clothing walking by after their daily rituals and devotees rushing to the ghats to bathe. The rickshaw man stopped close to a narrow entrance leading to one of the ghats. Akwai kusa da 84 ghats (which means steps leading to the banks of River Ganges) in Banaras that are owned by the Kings and royal families. A walk down one of the ghats and you can see life flow by, from people taking the holy dip in the Ganges (believed to remit their sins, no matter how polluted it is), to dead bodies being cremated and 30 large sewers are continuously discharging into the river, its a potpourri of different rituals, customs and beliefs. Varanasi releases around 200 million litres of untreated human sewage into the river each day. The river Ganga was ranked among the top five most polluted rivers of the world in 2007, tare da fecal coliform levels in the river near Varanasi more than hundred times the official Indian government limits. Samples from the river show the water has 1.5 million fecal coliform bacteria per 100ml of water. In water that is safe for bathing this figure should be less than 500! So drinking and bathing in its waters carries a high risk of infection. In spite of this alarming figures, thousands of devotees bathe in the Ganga, they believe that it prevents diseases. There might be some truth in that because our thoughts affect water and positive frequencies and words directed towards water leads to positive effects. I came across a research that stated – Ganga has special self-purifying properties which allows the river to absorb organic wastes at an extremely high rate. Usually organic material exhausts a river’s available oxygen and starts putrefying. But in the Ganges, an unknown substance referred as “Mysterious X factor” that Indians refer to as a ‘disinfectant,’ acts on the bacteria and kills them, Ta haka ne, preventing large-scale epidemics. Hmmm…very interesting discovery, what do you think about it? In the midst of all this exist people who are out to scam the discerning traveler or a pilgrim who is blinded by the sanctity of the place that they fail to see how they are getting cheated. A boat ride taking you across a couple of ghats would cost Rs 2200, thats what they quote. But only on haggling they come down to Rs 1500 domin 2, which is expensive because its less than an hour trip and includes a hush hush visit to three of the main temples. Ride through the Ghats The boatman who also acts as the guide quickly rants the mythological stories associated with some of the ghats, so its easy to miss out on the finer details, but this is some of it. Manikarnika Ghat Most of the ghats are used for bathing, some ghats are used to cremate the dead, out of these the most popular is Manikarnika Ghat – which is considered the most auspicious place for a Hindu to be cremated. The process of cremation goes something like this – first the corpse is doused in the Ganges, then its placed on huge piles of firewood stacked along the top of the ghat by the Doms (the caste which has handled cremation for centuries), each log carefully weighed on giant scales so that the price of cremation can be calculated. The price of wood depends on its quality, so sandalwood is the most expensive one. Bodies that don’t burn entirely are dumped in the river and you might find crows feasting on it. The sinking Vishnu temple near Manikarnika ghat. Narad and Raja Ghat Narad ghat was built by Dattatreya Swami, a monastery chief, a 1788. This ghat is related to Sage Narada, who was a divine musician in that time. While Raja ghat was built in the 18th century as well and four Shiva temples are located at the platform of the ghat. Rana Mahal Ghat Rana Mahala Ghat was constructed by the ruler of Udaipur (Rajasthan) a 1670. The ghat is used for performing rituals and taking holy dip and is famous for its ancient temple Vakratunda Vinayaka Temple, which is dedicated to Lord Ganapati. Darbanga Ghat This ghat is used to perform rituals related to the death of loved ones. In olden days when there was no electricity, the front two pillars were used as elevators to pull up Kings and royals. Munshi Ghat It was named in the memory of Sridhar Narayan Munshi, the finance minister of Nagpur and is a lovely structure. Ahilya Ghat Pilgrims bathing at the foot of Ahilya Ghat, built in late 18th century by Maratha Queen Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore. Prayag ghat This ghat is a replica of the pilgrim place known in ancient times as Prayag, now called Allahabad. Manmandir ghat Man Mandir Ghat, one of the oldest ghats in Varanasi, has a beautiful palace resembling Rajput architecture, built by Savai Man Singh, King of Amber (Jaipur), a 1585-1605. On the roof of the palace is the Hindu observatory made in the 18th century. Lalita Ghat Close to Lalita Ghat is the wooden temple of Nepal that houses a lingam which is a replica of the famous Pasupatisvara (Pashupatinath) at Kathmandu. The guide added that the topmost part of the roof is made of gold. The boat stopped at Lalita ghat, as we made our way through the tiny alleys leading to the famous Kashi Vishwanath temple that has the holy shrine of Kashi Vishwanath (a manifestation of Lord Shiva), and also one of the twelve revered Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva. This temple has been destroyed and rebuilt number of times. The Gyanvapi Mosque, which is adjacent to the temple, is the original site of the temple; the mosque was constructed by Aurangzeb, the Mughal Emperor of India. Currently the temple and mosque still co-exist in the same premises. Its believed that Hindu saints like Adi Sankaracharya, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda, Goswami Tulsidas, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Gurunanak have visited this site A rich history and a holy place, but there always is a little twist when it comes to religious entities. The temple is extremely crowded since thousands of devotees come every day. The boatman said he would take us to the temple, so this is how it works – He called a pujari to take me inside (Clyde was sitting outside with Kayde, since it was ovecrowded), there is heavy security, not letting us enter and the pujari pleads and urges to allow me inside. So I did manage to get in, then inside the temple there is a massive rush and absolutely no place to walk or stand, but the pujari pushes some of the devotees aside and tells me to barge my way in to to offer my prayers. You might just get two seconds too just catch a glimpse of the idol and you will be pushed out from there by the security in charge of the temple. Shi ke nan, this marks the end of my visit to the temple, the pujari will ask for donation for his overly kind gesture, I gave him Rs 40, but he wanted more, some Rs 500 or something. I refused and he walked away with a grumpy face. The boatman, who was going to take us to Annapurna temple, said it was going to be too crowded and walked back to the boat. We paid Rs 1400 for what, we wondered. The more interesting part of this short visit was the hand-churned lassi. Situated in a narrow lane, the lassi fellow has the shop right below his old-style house. His daughter was sitting at the small window above the shop looking at all the passer bys. “Did you visit the temple?” he asked. I replied unhappily, “A, but very crowded and too much nudging and pushing around.” He quickly defended, “Lots of devotees come here, so its bound to happen.” As the lassi was getting done, we chatted with him, asked about his life etc. He has been staying in Varanasi for a long time and owns a tabela few km away from the ghats and also had one buffalo in a shed below the house. He served lassi in small earthern pots, used only once, and it was delicious, even Kayde enjoyed it, and it was only for Rs 10. We observed the architecture of his house and how life exists in these ancient alleys, its really intriguing! We made our way back, and the stoned boatman after pulling a few drags from a chillum with a sadhu gave us a broad smile. The journey back was relatively quiet as we made our way through the polluted Ganges. Little do people realise the amount of the risk involved in drinking the septic river water. Back at the ghat we started from, we paid the boatman Rs 1400 and walked back to the rickshaw. On our way to the hotel where the car was parked, we made a stop at the birth place of Parshvanatha, the twenty-third Tirthankar where a beautifully carved temple is constructed. Since Varanasi is also the center of Shiva worship, its the hub of bhang, which is a preparation of marijuana leaves with cold milk, almonds, sugar, dry fruits. You will find bhang prepared at the ghats and its also easily available at the government recognised bhang shops. This marked the end of our short stay in Varanasi as we made our way to the next stop – Gorakhpur – (kusa da 200 km away) before crossing the Indian border to Nepal. Comments that was very cool! pl visit our website and write a blog in it.
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Kao Ganga teče kroz Varanasi je Gata… Nakon pokušava na nekoliko mjesta uspjeli smo pronaći jedan – Sarin Inn, boutique hotel s gawdy potrazi interijera i mudar čovjek na recepciji. Dogovor je bio za RS 1650 s porezom, (najbolje dostupne u to vrijeme) Soba je bila pristojna, Iako je kupaonica nije imao radnu gejzir i usluga je ispod standarda. Budući da smo bili tu samo za jednu noć, nije bilo mjesta za pritužbe. Nakon duhovit večere u hotelu, smo ga zove noći. Tu je osjećaj uzbuđenja pomiješana s osjećajem umora, ali dno crta je da su bliže našem odredištu kreće – Nepal – što je bilo dovoljno da bi nam se događa. Sljedeći dan smo planirali da provjerite prije podne i voziti se Gorakhpur, ali sjenovito obličje muški recepcionar uspio uvjeriti nas da se obilazak Gata i popularnih hramova, što čini grad tako sveta. “Kako možete otići bez posjete Kashi Vishwanath hram?” To je Clyde prvi posjet Banaras, a od Gorakhpur je relativno bliže, samo oko 200 km – što je vožnja rickshaw iz hotela u cantonment do Gata i natrag za RS 300. Varanasi Gati U drevna vremena, to mjesto zvalo Kashi, zatim je postao Varanasi, zbog svog položaja između dviju rijeka Varana i Asi. Kasnije je pozvao Benares, a 1956 to je preimenovana Varanasi. Njegova je također mjesto hodočasnika za hinduse, Jaina i budisti, i njegova kultura usko povezana s rijeke Ganges. Cestu koja vodi do Gata i Ganges je kroz uski bylane podsjeća na stari grad – hramovi, hrane staje prodaje domaće grickalice i slatkiše, Kuće namnožile jedni pored drugih, sadhui oblacenje svoj šafran odjeće prolaze nakon svojih dnevnih rituala i poklonika žure s Gata kupati. Čovjek rickshaw zaustavio blizu uski prolaz koji vodi do jednog od Gata. Ima oko 84 Gata (što znači korake prema obalama rijeke Ganges) U Banaras koje su u vlasništvu kraljeva i kraljevskih obitelji. Prošećite jedan od Gata i možete vidjeti protok život po, od ljudi koji uzimaju sveto kupanje u Gangesu (Vjeruje se da se osloboditi svoje grijehe, bez obzira na to koliko je zagađena je), do mrtvih tijela koja se kremirano i 30 velike kanalizacija kontinuirano ispuštaju u rijeku, njegova potpourri različitih rituala, običaji i uvjerenja. Varanasi tisak okolo 200 milijuna litara nepročišćenih otpadnih voda kao u rijeku svaki dan. Rijeka Ganga je rangiran među prvih pet najzagađenijih rijeka svijeta u 2007, s fekalnih razina koliformne u rijeci u blizini Varanasi više od stotinu puta službeni Indijski ograničenja vlada. Uzorci iz rijeke pokazuju voda 1.5 Milijun fekalne koliformi 100ml vode. U vodi koja je sigurna za kupanje ta brojka bi trebala biti manja od 500! Dakle, pije i kupanje u svojim vodama nosi visoki rizik od infekcije. Unatoč ovim alarmantnim brojkama, Tisuće poklonika okupati u Gangi, oni vjeruju da sprječava bolesti. Tu bi moglo biti neke istine u tome jer je naš Misli utječu na vodu i pozitivne frekvencije i riječi usmjerene vode dovodi do pozitivnih učinaka. Naišao sam na istraživanju koje je navedeno – Ganga ima posebne self-prečišćavanje svojstva koji omogućuje rijeka apsorbirati organski otpad na iznimno visokoj stopi. Obično organski materijal iscrpljuje rijeku je kisik, a počinje putrefying. No, u Gangi, nepoznata tvar naziva kao “Tajanstveni X faktor” da Indijanci nazivaju 'dezinfekciju,’ djeluje na bakterije i ubija ih, tako, sprječavanju velikih razmjera epidemije. Hmmm…Vrlo zanimljivo otkriće, Što mislite o tome? Usred svega toga postoje ljudi koji su na prijevaru uviđavan putnik ili putnica koja je oslijepio od svetosti mjesta da oni ne vide kako su uzimajući varao. Vožnja brodom vodeći vas kroz par Gata bi cijene Rs 2200, taj što im citiram. Ali samo na cjenkanje dođu do RS 1500 za 2, što je skupo, jer mu je za manje od sat vremena putovanja i uključuje Hush Hush posjet troje glavnih hramova. Vožnja kroz Gata Brodarac, koji također djeluje kao vodič brzo drekavaca mitološke priče povezane s nekim od Gata, pa se lako propustiti detalja sitnije, ali je nešto od toga. Manikarnika Ghat Većina Gata koriste za kupanje, neki Gata koriste kremirati mrtvih, Od tih najpopularniji je Manikarnika Ghat – koji se smatra najviše povoljan mjesto za Hindu biti kremiran. Proces spaljivanje ide nešto ovako – Prvo tijelo je doused u Gangi, zatim njezin stavljen na ogromne hrpe drva naslagane duž vrha klisura strane Doms (kasta koja rukuje kremiranje stoljećima), Svaki dnevnik pažljivo prosuđuje na velikim skalama, tako da je cijena spaljivanja može se izračunati. Cijena drva ovisi o njegovoj kvaliteti, pa sandalovine je najskuplji. Tijela koja ne spali u potpunosti su bačena u rijeku, a možda ćete naći vrane slavlja na nju. Tone Vishnu hram u blizini Manikarnika klisura. Narad i Raja Ghat Narad Ghat je sagradio Dattatreya Swamija, Šef samostan, u 1788. To Ghat se odnose na mudrac Narada, koji je bio božanska glazbenik u to vrijeme. Dok Raja Ghat je izgrađen u 18. stoljeću, kao i četiri Shiva hramovi nalaze se na platformi klisura. Rana Mahal Ghat Rana Mahala Ghat je izgrađena od strane vladara Udaipur (Rajasthan) u 1670. Ghat se koristi za obavljanje rituala i da sveto umočiti, a poznat je po svojoj antičkog hrama Vakratunda Vinàyaka Temple, koji je posvećen Gospodinu Ganapati. Darbanga Ghat To Ghat se koristi za obavljanje rituala vezanih za smrt voljene osobe. U stara vremena, kada nije bilo struje, prednja dva stupa su korišteni kao dizala podići kraljeva i Royals. Munshi Ghat Ime je dobila u spomen na Sridhar Narayan Munshi, Ministar financija u Nagpur i lijep struktura. Ahilya Ghat Hodočasnici kupanja u podnožju Ahilya klisura, izgrađena krajem 18. stoljeća Maratha kraljice Ahilyabai Holkar u Indore. Prayag Ghat To Ghat je replika hodočasničko mjesto poznato u drevnim vremenima su Prayagu, Sada se zove Allahabad. Manmandir Ghat Čovjek Mandir Ghat, jedan od najstarijih Gata u Varanasi, ima prekrasnu palaču nalik radžput arhitekturu, sagradio Savai Man Singh, Kralj Amber (Jaipur), u 1585-1605. Na krovu palače je Hindu zvjezdarnica se u 18. stoljeću. Lalita Ghat Blizina Lalita klisura je drveni hram Nepala koja se nalazi u lingam koji je replika poznatog Pasupatisvara (Pashupatinath) u Kathmandu. Vodič je dodao da je najviši dio krova je izrađena od zlata. Brod se zaustavio na Lalita klisura, kao što smo napravili naš put kroz uske uličice što dovodi do poznatog Kashi Vishwanath hrama koji je sveto svetište Kashi Vishwanath (manifestacija Gospoda Šive), i također jedan od dvanaestorice cijenjen Jyotirlinga Gospodina Šive. Ovaj hram je uništen i obnovljena nekoliko puta. Gyanvapi džamija, koji je u susjedstvu u hramu, je izvorna stranica hrama; Džamija je izgrađena od strane Aurangzeb, mogulski car Indije. Trenutno hram i džamija dalje koegzistiraju u istom mjestu. Njegova vjeruje da je hinduistički sveti poput Adi Sankaracharya, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda, Goswami Tulsidas, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Gurunanak su posjetili ovu stranicu Bogata povijest i sveto mjesto, ali uvijek je nešto obrat kad je u pitanju religijskih entiteta. Hram izuzetno je gužva, jer su tisuće poklonika dolaze svaki dan. Brodarac je rekao da će nas odvesti u hramu, pa ovo je kako se to radi – Pozvao je pujari me odvesti u (Clyde je sjedio vani s Kayde, jer je ovecrowded), postoji veća sigurnost, ne dopuštajući nam da unesete i pujari moli i apelira da mi dopustite unutar. Tako sam uspio doći u, onda unutar hrama nalazi se masivni žurbe i apsolutno nema mjesta za hodati ili stajati, ali pujari gura neke od poklonika stranu i kaže mi da upasti moj put u to ponuditi svoje molitve. Vi samo može dobiti dvije sekunde previše jednostavno uhvatiti pogled idolu, a vi ćete biti istisnut iz tamo sigurnosti u zadužen hramu. To je to, to označava kraj mog posjeta hrama, pujari će tražiti donacije za svoju pretjerano ljubaznim gestom, Dao sam mu R 40, ali on je želio više, neki Rs 500 ili nešto. Odbio sam, a on otišao s mrzovoljnog lica. Brodarac, tko će nas odvesti do Annapurna hramu, rekao je da će to biti previše gužve i vratio se na brodu. Platili smo R 1400 za ono, smo pitali. Više zanimljiv dio ovog kratkog posjeta bio je ručno churned lassi. Smješten je u uskoj traci, lassi momak ima dućan odmah ispod njegova stara stilu kuće. Njegova kći je sjedio na malom prozoru iznad dućana gleda na sve prolaznik Bys. “Jeste li posjetiti hram?” upitao. Odgovorio sam nesretna, “Da, ali vrlo prometan i previše pomicanjem i pritiskom oko.” Brzo je branio, “Mnogo poklonika dolaze ovdje, pa se moralo dogoditi.” Kao lassi je uzimajući učinio, smo razgovarali s njim, Na pitanje o svom životnom i sl. On je boravak u Varanasi za dugo vremena i vlasništvu tabela nekoliko kilometara udaljen od Gata i imao jednu bizona u šupi ispod kuće. On je služio lassi u malim posudama earthern, koristiti samo jednom, i to je ukusna, čak Kayde uživali, i to je bio samo za RS 10. Uočili smo arhitekturu svoje kuće i kako postoji život u tim drevnim ulicama, to je stvarno intrigantna! Napravili smo naš put natrag, i kamenovan brodar nakon povlačenjem nekoliko vuče iz chillum s sadhua nam je dao velik osmijeh. Put natrag je bio relativno miran kao što smo napravili naš put kroz zagađenih Ganges. Malo to ljudi shvate iznos rizika koji su uključeni u pitku septičke riječne vode. Natrag na klisura smo krenuli, smo platili Brodarac R 1400 i vratio se na rickshaw. Na našem putu do hotela u kojem je bio parkiran automobil, mi se zaustavio na rodno mjesto Parshvanatha, Dvadeset treći Tirthankar gdje je lijepo uklesan hram je izgrađen. Budući Varanasi je središte štovanja Shive, njegova središte bhang, što je priprema marihuane ostavlja hladnim mlijekom, bademi, šećer, suho voće. Naći ćete bhang pripremljena na Gata i to je također lako dostupni na vlast prepoznala bhang trgovine. To je označilo kraj našeg kratkog boravka u Varanasiju kao što smo napravili naš put do sljedećeg stajališta – Gorakhpur – (oko 200 km) prije prijelaz indijske granice u Nepal. Komentari to je vrlo cool! pl posjetite našu web stranicu i pisati blog u njemu.