Varanasi being the holiest hindu place that is, harbors thousands of sadhus from all over the country. This old baba makes the last blog photo from this magical world called India. The place that can be visited thousands of times over and over again, but never can be fully understood. Now we have to head to the Nepalese border, so see you later Incredible India! ;-)
Little chai wallah.
Straight out of mother Ganga :-)
Varanasi in early June. Average temperature 45-48 C. Three-four hour powercuts a day are almost garantied. When those happen and the ceeling fan stops, there is nowhere to hide. All you can do is take cold showers in every ten minutes and guzzle down fresh mango juice by the dozen.
"I work in a tailor shop of my cousin-brother. Now I have to stitch and iron these few clothes."
Typical Benares street scene.
This is the inner courtyard of a brahmin family house with dancing Shiva in the center.
Ohm Namah Shivaya
This photo was made around the burning ghat. There is a lot of wood needed for the 24/7 cremations.
At the end of each day there are several ghats where they have elaborate ceremonies to salute the Ganga. Some of them are over two hours. This is a small one by one of the more modest ghats.
All kinds of species swim together by the shore. These ones are water-buffaloes.
Thousand of people come down to the ganga every day to salute the holiest of rivers, to wash their clothes, to take a shower or just simply enjoy jumping around in the water.
Plenty of fisherman around the river. Basically they live on and around their boats.
This is a splendid day according to the babu in the back.
Of course the cadavers have to be brought to the ghat somehow. This is the most usual mode of transport, although I have seen dead bodies tied up to the top of rickshaws as well.
This is the burning ghat which according to hinduism is the most desireable place to be cremated of all places on the planet. So whoever can afford brings the deceased relative to be burned here and scattered into the Ganga. Only at this ghat they burn over two hundred dead bodies per day. The purchasing of the firewood is a crutial financial factor for lots of families. A funeral pyre made of ordinary wood can be obtained for about a 1200 rupees. Richer brahmin families can afford rosewood that will cost anywhere between 5000 and 8000 rupees but have a much more "pleasant" smell when burning.
There aren't too many stencil works I've found in India. This one being a refreshing exception.
Hanging out at the barber shop.
Or you can take one of the boats on the Ganga. This one is certainly more leisurely than the mad city traffic.
In the city there is no public transport of any kind so the only thing left to take is the good old rikshaw man.
There are also plenty of Ashrams belonging to prestigeous families. This one is a family shrine in one of them.
In Varanasi it is hard to guess if there are more houses or temples in the city.
This city has been continuosly inhabited for over 3000 years. Walking down the narrow streets one definitely feels the deep inprint of time.
So from the cool and fresh Himalayas we arrived to Varanasi (or Benares) the cradle of Hinduism, one of the oldest cities of the planet.
Varanasi being the holiest hindu place that is, harbors thousands of sadhus from all over the country. This old baba makes the last blog photo from this magical world called India. The place that can be visited thousands of times over and over again, but never can be fully understood. Now we have to head to the Nepalese border, so see you later Incredible India! ;-)
Little chai wallah.
Straight out of mother Ganga :-)
Varanasi in early June. Average temperature 45-48 C. Three-four hour powercuts a day are almost garantied. When those happen and the ceeling fan stops, there is nowhere to hide. All you can do is take cold showers in every ten minutes and guzzle down fresh mango juice by the dozen.
"I work in a tailor shop of my cousin-brother. Now I have to stitch and iron these few clothes."
Typical Benares street scene.
This is the inner courtyard of a brahmin family house with dancing Shiva in the center.
Ohm Namah Shivaya
This photo was made around the burning ghat. There is a lot of wood needed for the 24/7 cremations.
At the end of each day there are several ghats where they have elaborate ceremonies to salute the Ganga. Some of them are over two hours. This is a small one by one of the more modest ghats.
All kinds of species swim together by the shore. These ones are water-buffaloes.
Thousand of people come down to the ganga every day to salute the holiest of rivers, to wash their clothes, to take a shower or just simply enjoy jumping around in the water.
Plenty of fisherman around the river. Basically they live on and around their boats.
This is a splendid day according to the babu in the back.
Of course the cadavers have to be brought to the ghat somehow. This is the most usual mode of transport, although I have seen dead bodies tied up to the top of rickshaws as well.
This is the burning ghat which according to hinduism is the most desireable place to be cremated of all places on the planet. So whoever can afford brings the deceased relative to be burned here and scattered into the Ganga. Only at this ghat they burn over two hundred dead bodies per day. The purchasing of the firewood is a crutial financial factor for lots of families. A funeral pyre made of ordinary wood can be obtained for about a 1200 rupees. Richer brahmin families can afford rosewood that will cost anywhere between 5000 and 8000 rupees but have a much more "pleasant" smell when burning.
There aren't too many stencil works I've found in India. This one being a refreshing exception.
Hanging out at the barber shop.
Or you can take one of the boats on the Ganga. This one is certainly more leisurely than the mad city traffic.
In the city there is no public transport of any kind so the only thing left to take is the good old rikshaw man.
There are also plenty of Ashrams belonging to prestigeous families. This one is a family shrine in one of them.
In Varanasi it is hard to guess if there are more houses or temples in the city.
This city has been continuosly inhabited for over 3000 years. Walking down the narrow streets one definitely feels the deep inprint of time.
So from the cool and fresh Himalayas we arrived to Varanasi (or Benares) the cradle of Hinduism, one of the oldest cities of the planet.
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