After our mostly lazy day in Orchha, we left the hotel at 8pm to the railway station for our 16 hour overnight sleeper to Varanassi. The sleeper was OK, though not as nice as some I've been on, but for many of the group it was their first time on one. One of the joys of the sleeper is getting odd photos of people from unusual angles. Some flattering, some less so!
Varanassi is on the Ganges, the holiest Hindu river in India. We headed for a sunset boat ride along the Ganges to to see some of the many religious ceremonies carried out there.
Hindus cremate most of their dead. For devotees living nearby, most of these cremations are carried out on some of the Ghats (riverfront steps) by the river in town.
The bodies are wrapped in bright colours, bathed in the holy river to cleanse them, then burned by the banks. The ashes are then scattered in the river. It was a bit weird to see cremations being carried out so publicly, but that's part of the cultural differences that we were travelling to see.
But not all people are cremated. There is a (to me) strange list of people who cannot be cremated. The young (under 3) and those killed by poison/snake bite are among those not cremated. Often these people are buried instead, but for those near the Ganges the bodies are weighted down with rocks and thrown in the river (though apparently not right in town!). On our boat trip one of the girls swears she saw a human skull floating past. Creepy.
Bathing in the Ganges for purification is not just for the dead, and we saw many, many people bathing all along the Ghats. As well as the religious side of things, a fair number seemed to be having fun too and I definitely saw at least one ball being thrown about and people swimming about.
As well as these, various celebratory ceremonies are performed on the banks, and we got to observe one for a while in the dark. There were hundreds of people there, most on the shore, but also many on boats like us, either being touristy or just trying to get a better view of the proceedings. None of us were entirely sure what was going on, there seemed to be 7 priests all doing the same thing in unison, mostly wafting incense and fire around. The people seemed to enjoy it!
As a final thing, we were given candles to light and float on the Ganges in memory of those in our family who have died. I decided not to participate for 2 reasons. Firstly, I'm really not that religious or spiritual, and I do rather feel that taking part in a religious ceremony when you don't believe in it is inappropriate. Secondly, the candles were on little tin foil boats, and I'm really against putting non-bio-degradable rubbish in an already heavily used/polluted river just for the sake of it. I took photos of the others while they were doing it though, so got the experience.
Very early next morning we were back down to the river to see the sun rise over the Ganges, and it was very lovely. Loads more people in cleansing themselves and swimming about.
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| Witch! |
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| Little boy in the bed next door. |
Hindus cremate most of their dead. For devotees living nearby, most of these cremations are carried out on some of the Ghats (riverfront steps) by the river in town.
The bodies are wrapped in bright colours, bathed in the holy river to cleanse them, then burned by the banks. The ashes are then scattered in the river. It was a bit weird to see cremations being carried out so publicly, but that's part of the cultural differences that we were travelling to see.
 |
| Piles of wood for the cremations |
But not all people are cremated. There is a (to me) strange list of people who cannot be cremated. The young (under 3) and those killed by poison/snake bite are among those not cremated. Often these people are buried instead, but for those near the Ganges the bodies are weighted down with rocks and thrown in the river (though apparently not right in town!). On our boat trip one of the girls swears she saw a human skull floating past. Creepy.
 |
| I think this was just a dead goat |
Bathing in the Ganges for purification is not just for the dead, and we saw many, many people bathing all along the Ghats. As well as the religious side of things, a fair number seemed to be having fun too and I definitely saw at least one ball being thrown about and people swimming about.
As well as these, various celebratory ceremonies are performed on the banks, and we got to observe one for a while in the dark. There were hundreds of people there, most on the shore, but also many on boats like us, either being touristy or just trying to get a better view of the proceedings. None of us were entirely sure what was going on, there seemed to be 7 priests all doing the same thing in unison, mostly wafting incense and fire around. The people seemed to enjoy it!
As a final thing, we were given candles to light and float on the Ganges in memory of those in our family who have died. I decided not to participate for 2 reasons. Firstly, I'm really not that religious or spiritual, and I do rather feel that taking part in a religious ceremony when you don't believe in it is inappropriate. Secondly, the candles were on little tin foil boats, and I'm really against putting non-bio-degradable rubbish in an already heavily used/polluted river just for the sake of it. I took photos of the others while they were doing it though, so got the experience.
Very early next morning we were back down to the river to see the sun rise over the Ganges, and it was very lovely. Loads more people in cleansing themselves and swimming about.
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