Indian Ethnographic Expedition Part VIII. VaranasiMapMay 23 — June 13, 2015 The time difference between India and adjacent time zones is not one hour, but thirty minutes: GMT +5:30. VaranasiMap
We flew into Varanasi. A big, noisy city, thronging with people. Half of the vehicles on the roads are pedicabs. Hot and stuffy. We are standing here waiting for a guy from the guesthouse who is going to lead us through the impassible little streets. ![]() All of a sudden, it all kicked off. A completely surrealist procession walked slowly down the boulevard to the beat of drums. ![]() At the front of each line there was a cargo bicycle with a generator, from which cables stretched to the columns of people carrying chandeliers and floor lamps on their heads. ![]() Turned out that this was a wedding. ![]() The groom brought up the rear of the procession on a white horse. People held an umbrella over his head. You will notice a statue to the right of the groom. It also has an umbrella over its head. Because in India umbrellas are cool. Only important people have them. ![]() Suddenly six men show up, weave nests out of cloth atop their heads, then grab our suitcases, put them on their heads and quickly file out into the depths of the pedestrian neighbourhoods. ![]() The streets are full of cows, dogs, monkeys and more cows. ![]() Even after a short jog like that one, its still so nice to take a shower. Whats good in India is that practically everywhere you go you can sit on the toilet while you shower. A very surprising combination, I may add. ![]() The view from the guesthouse window. ![]() Varanasi is the most ancient and the holiest city in India. It is worth half of the rest of the entire country. According to tradition, people come here to die. Or bring the deceased here to cremate them. They cremate one hundred and fifty bodies a day! Its believed that if your soul has grown weary and doesnt wish to be reincarnated again, then the time is ripe for the said soul to go to Varanasi so that your body or your ashes can be released into the waters of the Ganges. In other words, the city of Varanasi serves as an emergency break. Once you are interred here, there will be no further rebirths. Flower arrangements for the deceased. Advertising on the wall. Looks positively coffin- ready”, — I thought to myself. But there are no coffins here, they put the bodies on the woodpile. ![]() Corpses are being carried to the waterfront, incessantly and at the same breakneck speed that our suitcases were brought here just a moment ago. ![]() There are several important professions in this town. One of them is firewood salesman. Here he is, dozing amongst his stock. The salesman is as old and desiccated as his merchandise. ![]() Theres a lot of merchandise. It takes up all available space. ![]() The deceased is brought in wrapped in coloured foil, which they remove before he is placed on the woodpile. One cremation uses up three cubic metres worth of firewood. The body is consumed within three hours. The service costs 10,000 rupees (about $150). Thats a lot, not everyone can afford it. ![]() Bodies are burnt on the waterfront here 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, one hundred years a century, for many successive millennia. ![]() Varanasi is a living portal to the past. Ive never seen anything cooler, more mesmerising, more real, more eternal and extraordinary, more astounding and transfixing anywhere in the world. Babylon and Palmyra, Rome and Leptis Magna, the pyramids of Egypt and Mexico — its all mummified touristy folly compared to the uninterrupted, vital cycle of life and death in Varanasi. Plus its hot here. ![]() — Ram nam satia he! Ram nam satia he! Ram nam satia he! Keeping the same size chunks, this can been translated as follows: Ramas name truth is! Ramas name truth is! Ramas name truth is!”. The mantra means that truth” (which is simultaneously also Truth, breath and soul) is no longer part of the body. The dead body is worthless, thats why it should be burnt as soon as possible. Only Rama is Truth, everything else is but dust and ashes. The best way to make dust and ashes is to make a bonfire. The porters chant this mantra as they walk by energetically, carrying a new corpse wrapped in coloured foil. ![]() The firewood trade. This is sandalwood, its said that when you use it, it smells less like a barbeque during the cremation. ![]() Incineration spots. ![]() Its interesting to note that death does not make the deceased equal in their rights. The wealthy and important dead get the better firewood, a prestigious ghat, a spot thats higher up etc. The lowest castes and the penniless are cremated closer to the water, theres even some who just get taken to the governments electric crematorium. The bits of coloured foil are candy wrappers encasing the deceased. Afterwards, they simply throw them away. ![]() The corpse turned out to be very long and one of the legs didnt fit. ![]() There is a special body parts- pusher equipped with a stick for such instances. He walks around ensuring that the body is burning through evenly for the whole three hours that this process takes. ![]() Three girls on a motor scooter. ![]() Street in the old town. ![]() A Varanasi local. ![]() Varanasi sits on the banks of the river Ganges. This year theres not much water, so you can see the sand and the swimmers on the other side (the opposite bank is a bit cleaner). ![]() In Varanasi they make better use of their waterfront than anywhere else in the world (take Perm for example — the waterfront there is a crappy backwater, not a façade instilled with meanings). The high bank is made up of ghats — assemblages of stone steps. ![]() Palace walls run above the steps. The lower flights are deserted because there are floods from time to time. The architecture looks absolutely incredible and fantastic as a result. Like a city out of Star wars”. ![]() My necks about to snap. ![]() Below the palace — toilets. Open-air urinals and a womens section with shutters. ![]() Rubbish bin. ![]() Fishermen. ![]() Varanasi is the only inhabited place on earth where you can travel to the Middle Ages in a time machine. ![]() Cow corpse floating. ![]() The rest of the city, some distance away from the waterfront, is not that interesting. ![]() Observant readers will recall that in the very south of India, in Kanyakumari, waterfront houses were painted with red and white vertical stripes. Here they use the same colours, but the strips run horizontally. The steps determine their direction. ![]() The ghats are astonishing and beautiful. ![]() The palaces are beautiful too. ![]() Unbelievable. ![]() And all this beauty was built without any construction watchdogs or building regulations! ![]() Our guesthouse. Half of it has been knocked down; here they are constantly putting up buildings and then rebuilding them. ![]() The cattle are hot. ![]() This ladys hot. ![]() The little monkey is hot. ![]() The people are hot. In India, a lifejacket can save you from the sun. ![]() After all, its 46 degrees in the shade. ![]() ![]() Life never stops in Varanasi. ![]() Nor does death ever stop in Varanasi. ![]() And all of the members of the expedition party lived happily ever after. |
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IndoEthnoExp. Part VIII. Varanasi
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