Varanasi: Life in the Raw

The traveler’s Bible (AKA ‘Lonely Planet’) begins their chapter on Varanasi with the following 2 words: “Brace Yourself”

Varanasi is the holiest city on the entire subcontinent, attracting thousands and thousands of Hindu pilgrims each day to bathe in the holy Ganges River, to cleanse themselves of all sins- and assure a better position in their next life. It is also the most auspicious place to be cremated so humans (both dead and alive) come from all over the world to die and/or burn on the banks of the Ganges.    

A flood of colorful women take the holy bathing 'ghats' by storm

Before bathing, this group of pilgrims sings, dances and prays together

Hindu priests perform puja, or ritual prayers

Men and women spend their lives in ashrams on the banks of the river

Women travelers wait with their bags to take a dip

Our guidebook claims that "water that is safe for bathing contains less than 500 faecal coliform bacteria in every liter of water. Samples show that this part of the Ganges has 1.5 million!! And the river is so heavily polluted in parts that the water is actually septic- no dissolved oxygen exists"

Despite the pollution, most pilgrims brush their teeth, quench their thirst, or do laundry alongside the bathers

Even cows are purified on the banks

Visiting Varanasi's cremation or 'burning' ghats is shocking and honest. You can meet elderly and sick living in ashrams above the river waiting to die, workers weighing the expensive wood and precisely stacking just the right amount to match the body's weight and family members waiting for haircuts along the river- as before lighting a deceased wife, child or parent's funeral pyre, you must shave all the hair off your head, face, body.

Coming from a culture which tends to 'sugar coat' or 'hide behind closed doors' the less appealing aspects of life, it is difficult enough to come face to face with burning corpses. But the most shocking part is to experience the blurry line between living, dying and brushing your teeth. Amidst the burning bodies and air thick with smoke of human flesh, you can find men playing cards, children laughing and playing sports, Hindu priest smoking hashish, children black in ashes spending their days scavenging for jewelry that did not burn, cows and goats grazing and newborn puppies wrestling.  

Special wood is shipped (actually rowed) in from all over India for the cremations

A man prepares for a family member's cremation

Signs of new life spring up everywhere

Children rush to the river after school to play cricket

All aspects of life occur simultaneously under the mystique of Lord Shiva

While some spend their lives in ashrams in Varanasi,

Others come just to see and experience a different world.

Other pilgrims come for the 'Supreme Deluxe Vegetarian plate'... shocking in its own right.

Sometimes serene, sometimes overwhelming, always colorful, Varanasi is a place you'll never forget.

We chose not to bathe, and maybe we'll pay for it in our next lives... When you visit, you can make that decision for yourself.