Varanasi - The oldest city of the world and its interesting things: Based on my visit here.

Varanasi is said to be one of the oldest continuously inhibited place in the whole world. It also goes by the name Banaras and Kashi. The most common reason for almost all of us to travel to any place, is to experience new things or in a commonly used phrase - to feel alive! But the reason to visit Varanasi for most Indians is just the opposite. They come here to die. Yes, that's right- to die! Being one of the most holy cities of the world (one among the Saptpuri), this abode of Siva is believed to grant people Moksha (salvation) and this is the reason for this final trip to Kashi. Varanasi is also believed to be the birthplace of Budhism.

For me, the reason for planning a trip to Varanasi was to pay respect to my late father by immersing his ashes into the holy river of Ganga which flows through Varanasi, while also learning a little more about the famous City of light.

Old Town of Kashi

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Me and my mother landed at the airport of Varanasi and took a cab to our Hotel. We learnt a few things on the way from the Driver - Varanasi has 2 towns. The old town and the new. The new town was a typical Indian town. The Old Kashi however was an array of very old buildings and alleys in between, which were hardly as wide as a car.

There were people, cycles, cycle rikshaws, motorcycles and even auto-rikshaws going through those alleys in addition to the cattle and dogs. The alleyways were lined with small shops built into the houses. It was harmony amidst Chaos. They have a number of tea shops like the one below where they serve chai in cups made of clay.

The buildings in the old town had a rusty charm to it. They were grand, but during another era. I could feel the centuries of weathering on the walls.

The cab dropped us at the entrance of the Old town and we walked the rest of the way trying to find our hotel with the help of Google maps assisted by some asking around from my part. Our hotel - The Alka was a descent one with great views. All the hotels in Old Kashi were pricey and this one more so as it was right at the banks of Ganga. It had a terrace which overlooked the Ganges.

Ganga and Her Arti

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For a river claimed to be so holy, Ganga was too dirty. The waste from the whole region of Old Kashi flows into this river and as though it was not enough, the remains of the burnt bodies were thrown into the Ganges. There are many Ghats (banks of the river) for the Ganga and 2 of them were dedicated only for burning the dead(explained in detail below). In addition to all this, as per the tradition here, deadbodies of children or pregnant women are not supposed to be burnt and thus are simple thrown into the water, tied to stones so they wouldn't surface.

Aware of all this, people take bath in this river and do their prayers - holiness precedes cleanliness.

Keeping all this aside, Ganga to hindus is a Goddess and they do Pooja (worshiping using lamps and offerings) for their Goddess every night - The Ganga Arti. Even amidst all the crowd gathering here to watch this, it is a beautiful process to witness. It is performed in more than one Ghats but the most grand one being in Dhashashwamed Ghat. Lucky for you, I had managed to get a front row seat for this and clicked a few good shots on my Nikon D 5100.

The Arti is performed by 7 people dressed in bright Orange (The color of their robes change from place to place-In Haridwar it is white instead of orange)

Akhoras

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Another not so rare scene here is an Akhora. Akhoras are ardent devotees of Lord Shiva who stand out from the normal worshipers. This community engages in post-mortem rituals including copulation and do not wear anything other than the ashes of burnt bodies and mostly live in cremation grounds. They carry human bones around with them and use human skulls to drink. As scary as they sound, they are believed to have mystical powers of healing and there are many people who consult an Akhora for healing.

Ghats of Kashi

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Ghat basically means the bank of a river which is accessible to people. Varanasi has so many Ghats and one of the main ghats is the Dhashashwamed Ghat, Manikarnika Ghat and Harishchandra Ghat. The latter 2 are mainly for cremations. Although taking a photo of the Manikarnika Ghat is said to be inauspicious, I clicked one for the record.

There is another Ghat which has a temple in the Ganga river. This temple surfaces completely only during the summer and that is the only time they do prayers in this temple. Here is a picture of this interesting Ghat:

Some other interesting things about Kashi

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The is a small town in the outskirts of the city of Varanasi called Sarnath where it is believed that Buddha gave his first speach Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta and founded Buddhism. You could see here Govt. employed guides who will give us the tour of the whole place for a mere Rs. 50.

Another very interesting place I visited while I was in Varanasi is the "Mother India Temple"- Yes, a temple dedicated to the country India depicted as a Goddess - the only one of its kind in the world.

It has 2 dimensional map of the whole country with the Himalayas depicted in 3-D to show the relative heights of the mountains. There is a person who would explain the history of India along with the very less known Indian names of the world famous Mt. Everest and the like.

Hope you had an interesting read. All the photos in this article is taken by me and there is nothing copied from anywhere.

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Cheers!