Buddha and Burning People

This morning it was a little cooler, probably somewhere in the 90s, to I headed to Sarnath, a town 10 kilometers from Varanasi where Buddha preached his first sermon after enlightenment, introducing his followers to Darmachakra, or the Wheel of Law. Now, you can see the ruins of the temple that was later built there, as well as a 6th century stupa, or short, round obelisk, commemorating Buddha’s presence there as a teacher. It was a really pretty place – all of these red-clay brick structures in ruins contrasted nicely with the green grass. People had put little squares of gold leaf on the images of Buddha and certain temples, so pieces of the buildings sparkled in the sun. I was marveling at the landscaping and wondering how they kept it so green in the heat, and so perfectly shorn – and then I saw two women, one in a yellow sari, one in red, using small scythes to perfectly trim the grass. It was crazy. I can’t believe that’s cheaper than buying a machine and mowing the lawn, but I guess it is. Their kids were wondering around the monuments, pestering me and other passers-by with their very helpful tour in broken English – ma’am, it’s a house. Very cheap house. Ma’am, look, it scares (I think they meant ‘stairs’). A family from a few miles away was picnicking there, and invited me to a glass of Pepsi. We exchanged some info about where we’re from, how many people are in my family, and then we ran out of vocabulary! I hid in the mall for the afternoon, enjoying the AC and checking out middle class Indians shopping and getting henna designs put on their hands. Then I went back down to the Ganges to check out the Ghat where they burn the dead – you put your beloved in a white shroud, and they build a pyre over them. The pyre burns for 3 hours, and then the ashes are washed to sea. The glow seemed lurid as I walked up in the dark, and I was a little nervous – but then I thought, hey, we cremate everyone in my family and put them to sea. It might have been nice to be there for the cremation together as a family. I tried to be as discreet as possible, but even in the dark I’m not that discreet, so I left quickly – wouldn’t want to disturb the grieving families.

Sorry, no pictures today – the camera pass was expensive at Sarnath, and it seemed wrong to take photos of the pyres (as I did yesterday – doh!).

Ganga-Devi

Wow! Okay, I will admit that I had some reservations about Varanasi yesterday morning. Oldest city = most winding, dirty streets I’ve seen since Cairo. Holy city = I can’t take part because I don’t really get it. 43C (110 Fahrenheit. In the shade.) = one parched, cranky girl. But I have wildly changed my opinion. Last night I went to the evening prayer on the central ghat, honoring Ganga Devi, or Devi as the spirit of the Ganges (I think. I'm a little weak on Hindu theology). It was beautiful. Five young men in gold colored tops and cream and red bottoms used different instruments to show worship, moving them in a 270 degree pattern, stopping the arc just right and left of their heads. Often in unison, the repetitive arcs were just beautiful – they held small lamps, ringing bells, and then progressed to holding these large oil lamps shaped like Christmas trees. I think you can see one glowing in the photo. After that, they swung cobra-headed oil lamps, and then large canisters with incense billowing out. The whole time, a man was intoning a religious song and the crowd clapped and sometimes sang along. Between prop changes, the men would throw flower petals out on the water. In the midst of all this, little kids (from as young as 3 to maybe 12, unfortunately) were running amidst the crowd selling leaves shaped into bowls, filled with flowers and a candle. You could buy them and float them out on the water. It was so beautiful. I really enjoyed it. I’ll have to look up more of what it was all about….

Holy Hot!

So, after a long journey by train, I am in Varanasi, one of the oldest cities in the world and one of the holiest in India. This is where Hindus come to wash in the Ganges, removing sin and hopefully pulling them out of the cycle of life-death-rebirth. It is particularly good to die here, apparently, so people who are ill and dying often come here; others bring their dead relatives and make offerings at the riverside, cremating their relatives on a pyre. I am not sure if that is what this image is – it’s not at the main cremation ghat, but it sure looks like a pyre to me! No, I didn’t see any bodies! At least, not yet. They are all brought in shrouds, anyway. (Ghat = steps leading down to the river, it seems. At the top of the steps are temples, places for meditation, shops and hotels. You can see the colorful ghats lining the river in this photo.)

The other thing I can tell you about Varanasi is that it is HOLY HOT! 43 Celsius today! Yours truly was wandering through the bazaar and the steps in front of the ghats, much to the amazement of the Indians, who were sure that 1.) I MUST have a group of other Americans with me somewhere, hiding, because Americans/Europeans always come in groups; 2.) that I would SURELY die walking in the heat, and that I should stop immediately and sit in the shade with them (friendly overture) or buy a cold drink in their shop (less friendly overture). You can tell that it’s super-hot from this photo – see the cows? They’re smart – hiding in the water. The goats were all curled up in the shade under the vendors’ tables. And the smart (and now holy!) people were in the water. I would love to join them, but since the Ganges serves as water source, sewer and cemetery here, I think I have to skip it. (WHO says the e. coli in this water is hundreds of thousands of particles per million more than it should be to swim!)

PS – on the train last night, something happened to my camera and the screen shattered. It doesn’t have a viewfinder, just that LCD screen, so please pardon the off-center shots – I just point, shoot and hope!