The Sacred Ganges River...

Written from Varanasi, India on Thursday, May 7th, 2009
First Babble
Previous Babble
Back to the Map!
Next Babble
Latest Babble

Namaste from Varanasi, India where Hindus burn there dead and spread the ashes in the sacred Ganges River.

What an AMAZING place!!!!!!

I had heard that you either love or hate it here. I am definitely loving it here. Funny I was curious to come here, but didn't think I'd like it so much. :). Jun and Sayaka have been in Varanasi for a day or two so when we arrived we contacted them and their hotel has free pick up so we had zero problems with finding a place. I'm so glad we got to hook up with our travelling friends again. It's a really good feeling to meet up with people you like, and then to keep meeting in different cities makes it feel more comfortable and familiar right away :).

Along the Ganges River there are so many things happening all the time. There are areas called Ghats and each one has it's purpose. Some are for praying and bathing in the sacred waters, others are for doing laundry, and there are two special Ghats for burning of the dead. I was surprised how wide the river is here. It's near the end of dry season and still so huge. People do all sorts of things in this water, cleaning clothes, dishes, washing, praying, bathing, fishing..... There are tons of oxen, cows, water buffalo, and dogs that like to take a dip as well. Unfortunately there are also a few sewage pipes pumping into the River as well.

Our hotel is overlooking one of the burning Ghats. Yep that means from our balcony we saw many cremations and Hindu style funerals taking place. It sounds creepy, but it was actually really interesting and done in such a respectful way it didn't bother me. I watched and asked some questions and I might have it wrong, but this is what I figured out.......

Usually four men carry a sideways ladder shaped wood over their shoulders with a body completely wrapped in shiny orange or red material lying on top.

They almost march through the street singing loudly until they get to the ghat.

From here they go straight to the Ganges River where they submerge the body (possibly three times). From here they lower the body at the edge of the water and one man from the family has to start his portion of the service.

Only one man from the family, usually a brother, son, or father takes this important role. At this point they have already had their head shaved (some leave a small piece of hair at the crown). The man now removes his clothes leaving underwear, and walked into the River to pray. When he gets out of the water he throws his clothes into the River and given two pieces of white material that he must wear for the next 10 days. He is supposed to wash himself and the cloth in the morning and at night every day.

After the 10 days are up the other men in the immediate family and all the kids are to shave their heads. In the South widows also shave their heads, and every year after the husbands death they do it again. I think sometimes families have their own traditions, and I'm sure some have changed with time. You very rarely see woman down there. I think there's a watching area further way they can stand, or maybe some families only have men there??

The men that are there walk up the stairs and start bringing the wood down towards the water where they build a large pile about 2 feet high. The bottom of the pile seems open to let air flow through.

Once the pile is made the body is laid down and the ladder carrier is disassembled and put to the side. I'm not sure if there is a priest down there or if it's just the family that run the burning Ghat but there is definitely a smooth process. After the body is on the pile they remove the coloured fabric and throw it in the River. (occasionally we saw kids jumping in and salvaging this at the time of service). The body already covered in white cloth and the chosen man is now handed powder or creams of different colours that he adds on top of the white cloth on their lost relative. I think there's prayers going on at the same time.

After this the family walks around the body 3 times (not sure if in silence or making prayer). After this the family takes smaller pieces of wood and cover the body up. The chosen man then is given a small bundle of very long hay where he lights it from a fire just beside them. The fire starts easily and will continue until it is down to ashes.

The family stay the entire time, but it only takes a couple hours. I've always said I want to be cremated, and I think this is a much nicer way of doing it..... But since I'm not done with this life yet I doubt I'll make it back here when it' my time.......

There is always someone there working the fire. I was also told the bigger and faster the fire meant you were a good person. The slower and more difficult ones were not as good in this life.

When the fire has gone out for one person the ashes are left to cool. Later when their are two men worked as a team to spread the ashes in the water. One scooped the ashes into a metal large low bowl and handed it to the other standing in the water. The one in the water added water into the bowl slowly and tried to get the ashes to get into the water and not stay at the surface. They did this for a long time since there were many piles. The thing I found disturbing about the spreading of the ashes is they drifted over to where the water buffalo's hang out and made it as far as the first laundry man. You could see him washing cloths and this dark ashy water surrounding him????

The family who works here know how much wood is required for each funeral and they only use what is required. I had said that the service or ritual of burning the dead is not creepy, but one time Chris and I looked a bit too closely into the fire and we gave ourselves a bit of a scare. So as long as you don't look too close or think about it too hard it's good.

About the burning Ghats. It has been said that the God Shiva (destroyer) is the one who lit the fire in Varanasi at the main Ghat. This fire has been burning for thousands of years and maintained by one family. Strangely enough this family is from the lowest caste there is. I find it strange that this family that is considered "Untouchable" is trusted with maintaining such an important fire and are the ones that after you die arrange the bodies and do the final service??? The caste system is supposed to be finished, but tradition is very strong in India. Any way there was only one burning Ghat area until one of the kings split the family in two.... They brought some of the original fire with them and they made this Ghat where we are. Here there is also a crematorium (also just outside our window) where poor people have a slightly different service. I watched as they had the bodies lined along the walkway. I was told no matter how poor you were people would give money so you can afford to have your family member cremated.

Hindus from all over India come to Varanasi when they are old or sick so they can die in such a sacred place.

But this is India and even death is not really a sad occasion (don't get me wrong of course they are upset when someone dies, but it doesn't seem to be as morbidly sad as funerals at home). There is so much life surrounding the funerals here. One time when I looked out the window I saw two funerals taking place, a few feet away were three water buffalo's cooling in the water, directly beside them were about 10 people doing laundry (business not personal).... there were also kids swimming and playing in the water, and a man fishing directly in front of the funeral???? On the steps above were the cutest baby goats skipping along after there mom.... kids playing cricket, people selling and drinking tea under the crematorium and generally just life in a busy city. A few times we saw pairs of bride and groom with immediate family with them heading to the water I guess to bless the ceremony or give luck. I could watch out the window or wander along the river side for ever and always have something new to see. It's definitely a place to watch people and there's a feeling of calm here.

I still can't believe how the water that is considered septic since there is no oxygen and very very polluted does not smell??? Also there are special fresh water dolphins who are almost extinct who live here??? How is this possible. It really is a magical place. Jun was much braver then the rest of us and went into the sacred waters twice.... He did shower right after, but I'm such a mother hen I was afraid for his health.

One morning we took a 5AM boat ride along the Ganges to see all he activities happening. So many people were already up and praying and bathing in the sacred water. Also the laundry service people were busy slamming the clothes against slabs of concrete angled at the side of the river for that purpose. We saw holy men meditating, tons of goats, cows, dogs wandering around. Seeing the Ghats from the water with the glow of the sun coming up everything is warm and glowing. Is that what they mean when they say the magic hour?? I'm so glad we did this at the beginning of the day. We did spend time walking around the city, and it was nice to be wandering with no agenda. I had some fun in the section with all the shops. Normally I don't buy anything, but I was in the mood to browse and I did want to pick something up for a couple people. I really really like it here. There are a bunch of tourist here, but mot of them are from other areas of India so it makes balances out what Chris calls the dreadlock patrol :).

Sayaka and Jun were here before us and leaving earlier, but we did get to wander around a bit and have some dinner. We had planned to walk along the river in the evening, but we started to late since Chris and I had to finish off paperwork from OHIP, and the insurance company. We had a nice night though. I think this time since we're off to Nepal it might be the last we see them until we hit Japan. Stay safe guys, and hopefully you have a smooth trip home.

Hey I was chatting to a couple girls at the hotel and they had just come back from Nepal. They told me a bit about it (I was sad when they told me Kathmandu was filthy and noisy and worse then India in that way..... but then I remembered they just arrived to India and Varanasi is very clean). They had their Lonely Planet book that looked untouched and they gave it to me. YAY!!!!! Chris and I were being cheap and didn't want to spend the $30 on a book since we're only planning on heading to Kathmandu learning about the trails and then head out trekking.... The book is good though and I'll try to treat it much better then our poor torn apart India book. (we tore chapters out so we could carry the pages not the big book all the time.

So that's Varanasi.... If your coming to India come visit. Again you'll either Love or Hate it, but either way it's an important place to visit. There's still the hustle and bustle on the streets with people trying to sell you things and rickshaw drivers calling you all the time, but no one seemed to be to pushy or aggressive towards us. I can understand how some people spend months here... Take language, yoga or meditation classes.

It's really a peaceful place to be. I guess the sacred Ganges waters have rubbed off on the land. Sheryl the sentimental fool.

First Babble
Previous Babble
Back to the Map!
Next Babble
Latest Babble

See the Pictures!

Washing laundry. View from our boat ride along the Ganges River Dinner is over.  :).  Varanasi, India View from our boat ride along the Ganges River Cows hanging out. View from our boat ride along the Ganges River Vendor. View from our boat ride along the Ganges River Yummy food for four :).  Varanasi, India Yummy food for four :).  Varanasi, India View from our boat ride along the Ganges River View from our boat ride along the Ganges River
April 11th, 2011

Zy8kgA I’m not easily impressed. . . but that’s impressing me! :)

Gildas
April 13th, 2011

The Ganges River is amazing and if you get a chance you should go. It’s unforgetable.

Sheryl

Comment on this post: