Three flights to Varanasi

So here we are in Moscow now, slowly sorting out the photos we made during our trip to Varanasi and writing posts on our stay there. Here's the first one, how we got there in the first place.

The road to Varanasi started from Moscow Domodedovo airport and through Doha - by Qatar Airways. First we have booked the seats online beforehand and printed out the boarding passes.

Then we were perplexed to see a strange Terminator-like metal structure in the illuminator - it was spraying our plane with some de-icing chemicals.

Qatar Airways boasts a cool back-seat in-flight entertainment for every passenger with movies, soap operas, some basic games, news and a lot of other things that make you poke the seat, sometimes causing   slight disturbance with the passenger seating in a row before you )

It also has a wide array of maps, showing the position of the airplane. Good for those, who need to keep up their geography studies.

And then we arrived to Doha airport. If Doha is not your final destination, and it is mostly so, you will have a yellow-colored ticket holder, and you will need to disembark from the bus, that takes you from your airplane, on the first stop.

Duty Free shop at Doha. A lot of really cool stuff at good prices - cashew nuts, Al Fakher and other brands of tobacco, alcohol, jewelry and toys.

Clear blue skies above Qatar

Yummy in-flight meal! I love this!

Arriving to Delhi, fasten seatbelts!

We spent a couple of hours in Delhi waiting for the flights to Varanasi, which start departing around 10 am. Not that we could find any convenient place to rest inside the Delhi International airport, but it was quiet and clean, so we just settled in one of its comfortable cafes and whiled away the hours there. Actually, there is a launge to sleep in, but they charge ridiculously high - USD 100 for 3 hours of sleep. If you are on a budget and need a nap, just check in into your flight and pass all the security checks to find a spare and nice looking horizontal chairs, where you can surrender to sleep. Though I would not recommend doing that if there is no one to wake you up for the flight :) 

On a flight to Varanasi

Hello, Varanasi!

Wait, it's a strangely familiar logo, this can't be real!

Checking in the Temple on Ganges hotel on Assi ghat

Our first thali in Varanasi. Crunching papad

Are you ready for street painting in the sacred city?

To be continued...


We would like to thank again our partners, Qatar Airways, and Moscow based Indian travel agency IMS-Service, and personally Inderaj for bringing us to India for this art project.

Muslim celebration in Varanasi

On December 6, 2011 Varanasi and other Indian cities with Muslim population became a place for a large-scale Muslim Muharram mourning activities. That invariably included zangir-zani (beating oneself with chains).

On Muharram, Muslims take out large processions and mourn the killing of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed, who was martyred some 1,330 years ago at Karbala in Iraq on the 10th day of the Islamic month of Muharram. Major mourning processions were held in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and other cities.

The police had beefed up security to ensure that the day passes off peacefully - and it did.

Dasashwamedh Station, Varanasi

So we have finally accomplished our first wall here. We hope it will serve as a prominent landmark for Russian tourists in Varanasi - the text in Russian above the painting says "Station Dasashwamedh" and has a direct correlation with the big M which stands both for Moscow and for Moscow subway.

Not only the Moscow sub­way sym­bol looks as if it belongs in Varanasi. Artyom also looks more and more like a devoted pil­grim here )

Painting the first wall

We have been painting our first wall in Varanasi from the morning till the darkness the day before yesterday, yesterday we planned to finish our first wall, but still have some details to fix, so will finalize it tomorrow and then you will see the final drawing.

Pintu, the local Varanasi wall-painter, brought us all necessary paints and brushes, and was proactively involved in painting. Especially when it came to climbing really high.

Альбом: Varanasi

Альбом: Varanasi

Альбом: Varanasi

Альбом: Varanasi

Альбом: Varanasi

Альбом: Varanasi

 

Today we went to see the Buddha temples and stupas of Sarnath, to get some inspiration from the painted walls of different country temples there. They were really magnificent.

Альбом: Varanasi

Альбом: Varanasi

Альбом: Varanasi

Wall painters arrive in Varanasi

We have successfully made it to Varanasi with the help of Qatar Airways and IMS-service. We are really grateful for them that they have made the trip doable!

3D view of our flight

Delicious!

Flying high on Qatar Airways

We will publish a more detailed report later on, because the Internet connection in Varanasi is rather slow, and downloading pictures take a lot of time.

The city of Varanasi welcomed our arrival with smooth weather, even a little chilly in the mornings and evenings. What can I say about the changes in city from the first glance, well, now Varanasi has more quality big format outdoor advertising, both in terms of constructions and printing. The ghats have more lightning during the evenings, so they are easy to navigate, I barely used my flashlight going from Dasashwameth to Assi ghat. To my surprise I saw children playing not only cricket, but also badminton! Totally amazing.

A night view from Assi ghat

The traffic stays the same, the streets are crowded with riksha-wallas and chai is still a major treat here.

The central ghat and other ghats around 500 meters from it were cleared of all advertising paintings in November for the Dep Devali celebration. Our announcement was also removed, but we are not discouraged, we will do a real wall painting, not just an announcement )

As for the graffiti, we have met everyone we needed on the second day of our arrival, including the owner of the ghat Mr. Mishtra, so today at 11-00 we started our long awaited and long air-flighted wall painting.

You can follow us on twitter.com/govaranasi to learn the latest news first.

Varanasi graffiti trip - update

We have received Artyom’s passport in Moscow, now Inderaj from IMS-Service has done almost impossible, booking tickets and delivering all the documents for visa to the Indian embassy, so now we just wait.

The flight is scheduled on November 25, Varanasi, here we go!

Turbulence zone

We believed that we had reached the final stage in our graffiti project, that already took almost a year to happen. We thought we just had to come to Varanasi and start actually drawing on the wall. Evidently, we made all arrangements in summer - we chose the winners, we booked the tickets to Delhi and Varanasi with the help of Qatar Airways, we confirmed the dates.

But making plans with Varanasi is not that easy, as you probably now, and the city itself has suddenly made a move. Interesny Kazki informed us a month before departure, that they would not be able to make the trip on the arranged dates, since they are busy with some very important art event in USA in November. Oops.

We can't change the dates of the trip, because we can't change them in the tickets. So we just loose them - two tickets to Delhi and two domestic to Varanasi. Anyway, we are very greatful to Qatar Airways - guys have really taken all the pains to deliver tickets on the exact dates we requested, despite Kazki's changing plans a couple of times. Qatar have even booked us a return trip in December, a high season for India.

So we had a situation - artists would not go, and two tickets went down the drain.

Alright, we needed plan B. Plan B is Artyom Semyanenko with his esoteric Moscow subway logo. His work has won a lot of appraise both from the Jury and from the special forum on India travel from Russia and CIS indostan.ru.

We call him and yes, he is ready to go, but he doesn't have a foreign passport. Artyom quickly gets all the necessary documents and submits them to the Russian Migration Service in his hometown Rostov-na-Donu, because the departure is already scheduled for November 25th.

Then we face another challenge - we have the artist, but no tickets for him.
We turn to our Indian friend Indar, who works in Moscow providing for tickets to India, domestic flights and railroad tickets there. We have booked tickets through him for many-many years and we know him from some of our best friends, who also travel to India with his help. His agency is called IMS-Service and is well known among Moscow offices of airlines, who fly from Moscow to India. He has also promised to provide a free of charge visa for our project and a ticket, if we need one.

So we tell him about our predicament, and luckily he says he will help us and book Artyom a free ticket to Delhi. Thats pretty amazing, thank you Indar for your trust in our project! Seems like Varanasi comes through really nice people anywhere on Earth.

So we hope it all go well, though the Universe can once again change our plans, because if Artyom receives the passport later than November 18, he won't be able to get the visa in time.

A few words about Artyom. He is 19, he lives in Rostov-na-Donu and he has never been to India. He studies in Architecture Academy, majoring in Restoring of art in architecture.

Here are more of his works

No more tourists in Vishvanath Temple

We have just learned, that Vishvanath, the most sacred Golden Temple of Varanasi, has ultimately closed its doors to foreigners. As one of the tourists was busted in the temple with a camera in September, the Ministry of Tourism has banned foreigners altogether from getting inside the temple.

So right now there is no way curious travellers can get in - not with the help of the government approved guides, not through the priests, who sit along the alleyways near the entrance to the sacred site.

UPD
As it turned out, Vishvanath has lifted the ban - probably in the wake of new tourist season. So you CAN actually get in, proving to the guards that you are Hindu ) The ban has stayed for two months.

A live webcam from Varanasi

Modern technologies slow, but steady dig their way into Varanasi.
We are proud and sad (good old Varansi is getting way too globalized) to present the first ever webcam streaming live video from Iiba - a clean, nice and cozy restaurant in the middle of Varanasi.

Wow.


Live Video streaming by Ustream

Qatar Airways offers cheap Moscow-Delhi flight

Qatar Airways has a nice special offer for those who want to get to India from Moscow in comfort this autumn. Only for 357 euro you can book yourself a flight to Delhi through Doha - cool and modern airport whith a lot of things to buy in its large duty free shop.

The offer is valid until August 31.
Grab the moment!

Lonely Planet got lost in Varanasi

Lonely Planet referrs to Varanasi as the second best place to get lost in. After Venice.

Lets's see what it says about Varanasi.
"You could throw yourself into Varanasi’s dark maze of streets a hundred times over and still come out at a different point. Discover temples, sweet shops and silk bargains in its back alleys." - quite right!

"Get found: Countless bicycle rickshaw drivers will be only too happy to take you home – for a price that’s in range of just about every budget." - absolutely wrong!

In fact, there are no rickshaws in the Old city of Varanasi - and we are speaking exactly abou the Old city, since that's the place where tourists wander. Just because it's streets are two narrow for a rickshaw - sometimes it's so narrow that only 1 person can pass at a time. So there's no escape on a rickshaw. The best way out of the Old city (if you can't get yourself back on the road with rickshaws) is to walk down the streets to the river. There you could consult your map and find out where you are - the names of the ghats are everywhere. And from there you can take a boat to where you want to go.
Otherwise you just trust some local to get you out of the labyrinth. Just believe that he actually is a good a person and he will surely help you out )

The upside is - no one has ever failed to find the way out of the Old city )

Bumpy roads - modern karma of Varanasi

More and more people are complaining of backache, neck pain and spinal injuries in Varanasi. The doctors attribute the rising cases to bumpy rides on potholed roads of the city.

Well, I would agree to that. Especially when you are riding in a ricksaw more than 5 minutes. The Russian roads, notorious for their bumps, seem like heaven when compared to those in Varanasi.

Media reports that the figures of people hurt by the roads is growing steadily. "On an average, we are witnessing three to four cases of spinal injures per month and the figure is almost 20% higher than the last year figure," said O P Sharma of department of radiodiagnosis and imaging, Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

Though I can hardly understand how 3 cases can show the 20% increase in number, I'm sure the doctor finds this trend very disturbing.

In addition, there is an almost 10% increase in the cases of neck pain and backache, two most common skeleto-muscular problems. Around 8 to 10 cases are being reported daily at the centre, added the senior professor, who has come up with a special paper on effects of bumpy roads on backache and other skeleto-muscular ailments.

The reports of orthopaedic department, BHU, indicate that knee and shoulder injuries are common problems affecting the young population, while backache and neck pain are taking toll on the ones aged over 50 years.

The youngsters, particularly college going students, in the city drive their bikes at a high speed which makes them prone to accidents resulting in knee and shoulder injuries.

"Wrong sitting postures on bikes coupled with bumpy rides cause backache and spinal injuries, said Sharma, who was former head of the department.

Also, as per the reports of neurosurgery department's OPD, an average increase of 20% has been witnessed in the cases of spinal injuries in last one year.

"One needs to be extra careful while riding motorbikes or driving vehicles on these roads and it is always better to compromise speed for safe and injury-free journey," said Sharma.

Moscow vs Varanasi graffiti contest - the winner

We are happy to finally announce the winner of the contest — ‘Fire, water, wall’ by Ukranian team Interesny Kazki.

Congratulations!

Most members of the Jury have declared that the style, the symbols and the theme of the works by Interesny Kazki fully befits the contest and the city of Varanasi itself.

The key idea of the work is intercommunication of two elements, that are conflicting by nature - fire and water. Tangled together those two forces are omnipresent in Varanasi - the fire of burning dead bodies converses with the Ganges water. Life and death mix and become inseparable. At the same time those two elements stand for two different cultures - Slavic and Indian.

We would also like to point out a work, which has received special praise from the Jury - The Metro.

Artem Semyanenko has chosen a very modern symbol of Moscow, the logo of the subway and made it look alive. The work has original concept, artfully cragted, has a bit of satire is easy to remember.

You can see the gallery of other works here and the short list here.

So our next step is to make it happen offline - the real graffiti on the Varanasi wall. We expect to paint it in the coming fall. Stay tuned!

Dussehra Ganga festival in Varanasi

Ganga Dusshera is a holy festival celebrated on the tenth day of the month of Jayeshta. The festival is devoted to the worship of holy river Ganga.

It is believed that the ‘Gangavataran’ (the descent of the Ganga) took place at this time. On this day, places such as Varanasi, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Garhmukteswar, Prayag etc. hold special significance.

A huge number of devotees flock to numerous ghats located on the west bank of the river Ganga to bathe in water and carry the river clay home to venerate. A bath in the Ganga is believed to purify the soul and clean it of 10 sins. In Varanasi the special aarti sounds bounce across the city, and in Haridwar aartis and meditation are also performed by a large number of devotees on the river banks.

Ganga water is stored in sealed pots in homes and is used on sacred days.

Ganga moving away from Varanasi ghats

The river of faith, Ganga, is changing course and appears to be moving away from the historic ghats of Varanasi, the abode of Kashi Vishwanath. The river is now flowing 7-10 feet away from the banks. Though the media make it look like some extraordinary event, our local friends there admit, that it's the casual annual decrease in Ganga's waters. Soon with the monsoon, the Ganga will gain strength again.

At the famous Dasaswamegh Ghat, close to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, the river is flowing 9 feet away from the ghat steps. At Rajendra Prasad Ghat, Rajghat and Assi Ghat the river is seven, four and five feet away respectively from the ghats’ steps.

According to scientists associated with the Ganga Action Plan, the river is changing course due to massive pollution and lack of proper cleaning of the banks of the river.

Acharya Jitendra of the Ganga Mahasabha says that the administration is not working towards cleaning the Ganga; instead more and more pollutants are being pushed into it.

Moreover, the dams and barrages that have been built upstream are diverting increasing amounts of water for farming and other purposes. For example, around nine percent of Ganga’s waters are diverted to canals at the Bhimgouda barrage.

As per a report, the government has spent Rs 36,448 crore on cleaning the Ganga, yet at Varanasi the river is little more than a deadly cocktail of groundwater, sewage discharge and spillage from tributaries like the Yamuna and the Betwa.

A band from Varanasi made it to National Geographic

A wedding photo from Varanasi became the photo of the day on National Geographic website

Varanasi children need to learn about Indian culture

Of all the places in India I would never say that Varanasi lacks insights into the rich Indian cultural heritage. But that's my western opinion, and as it turns out things are not quite like this there.

Daily India reports, that as an initiative to inculcate cultural values and allied Indian ethos among youngsters, a special summer camp has been organized for school children in Varanasi.

The children are taught essence of Hindu culture, relevance of rituals and recitation of passages from holy scriptures such as Vedas, Bhagwad Gita, Upanishads and Puranas.

Every day, the teacher conducting the classes fondly applies a paste of sandalwood on the foreheads of the young Vedic 'scholars', incidentally, all studying in English medium and convent schools.

"It is very necessary for today's children because today, children are convent educated, going far from our traditional culture. So, we need to enlighten them about our Indian cultural heritage since during their routine academics, they are unable to concentrate on this aspect. So, this is the right time to give them the right training. That's why in summer camp we are teaching these children Bhagwad Gita and Vedic Mantras among others," said Ishita Saraswat, a trainer at the school.

On their part, the children despite not understanding the Sanskrit language in which most of the Hindu scriptures are written seemed to be curious to learn it.

"My father and mother are very happy to hear my reciting passages from our religious scriptures," said Avantika Kapoor, a student at the summer camp.

"Since many parents are working, both of them don't have time to make their children understand about basic culture. They don't have time even to make their children be aware about certain basic facts of our culture and hence this summer camp for the children," Saraswat said.

She also mentioned that the young children have learnt a lot about Hinduism right form respecting one's parents and teachers to reciting simple shlokas (psalms) from the scriptures.

Probably, being the territory of wisdom, like I stated in the previous post, Varanasi can never find the current amount of knowledge enough for its children. Right?

Varanasi - territory of wisdom

Most people in the West, when recalling their trip to Varanasi mostly rattle about sacred Ganges and hordes of people and animals bathing in it, dead bodies burning, pilgrims, sadhus and cow shit.

What often escapes their narrative is that Varanasi has long been a center of wisdom and learning.

For the most ancient name of the city is Kashi, the name nearly three thousand years old. As Diana Eck in her book rightfully observes, the most common etymology of the word is from the Sanskrit roor kash, "to shine, to look brilliant".

And when we speak about wisdom India-wise, we inevitably travel into the mystic land. The worldplay in Sanskrit continually underlines the relation of the City of Light to the light of enlightenment. For example, the city is called "City of Light which illumines liberation". Varanasi is also called jnana-svapura, the "embodyment of liberating insight". So the Kashi is pure light and wisdom, which enables us to see into the true nature of things. In Kashi, as the Kashi Rahasya, a 14th to 17th century old text says, one sees one's own soul.

Right next to the mystic wisdom stands the second, more easily comprehended meaning of light in the West - the light of study. As early as 1,000 BC Varanasi attracted worshippers, religious seekers and yogis, who found the city to be an ideal place for their hermitages. And in this period Varanasi became known as a center of learning.

The most famous seeker was, of course, Siddhartha Gautama, who became to be called the Buddha, the Awakened One. In a park in Sarnath he preached to his companions the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Noble Path, turning the wheel of Dharma.

The legend says that while travelling to Sarnath, Buddha had to cross the Ganges and having no money with which to pay the ferryman, he crossed the Ganges through the air. When King Bimbisāra heard of this, he abolished the toll for ascetics.

Diana Eck cites an Indian historian, who wrote that "Varanasi at this time was so celebrated that it was only suitable for the Buddha to reach a new way and turn the wheel of the law here". And for 1,500 years Sarnath continued to be an active monastic center of Buddhism.

As the ashrams back at that time were Indian universities, Varanasi outlive all other cities in India as such a center and became synonymous with classical learning. The ritual journeys to Kashi to study the Vedas has become an integral part of initiatory and wedding rites in distant parts of India. In some Hindu weddings the groom should declare that he would renounce the world and go to Benares to study the Vedas. Thus he initiates the bargaining for the bride and the brides' family makes him abandon the thought. And in some parts of India the initiation ceremony for young men includes a mock journey to Varanasi - seven steps in its direction symbolize ancient journey to the source of all wisdom.

Today Varanasi houses the famous BHU - Benares Hindu University, the largest residential university in Asia, with over 12,000 students living on its huge campus, dominating over South part of the city. According to Wikipedia, it ranks as the second best university in the field of research in India after Delhi University and it is also ranked as the best overall university of India on all parameters.

And another university that I should mentioning speaking of learning in Varanasi is Sampurnanand Sanskrit University. The University website says that "Benares has been most appropriate for the University", and that's true, it's not a simple coincidence, that Varanasi is the place for worldwide acknowledged Sanskrit University. I personally know some Russian guys, who study there, so "worldwide" is not just a figure of speech.

There are also a lot of students clearly visible on streets of Varanasi. Mostly school children, students are dressed like everyone else, but school kids wear different uniforms, each style appropriate to one's school.

I absolutely agree with the point Diana Eck made in her book - the ancient traditions of seeking of wisdom are still visible in the streets of Varanasi.

That's the important thing I would like the travellers to percieve in Varanasi.

Easter cake - synonym of lingam?

Easter cakes - they look kind of Indian, don't you think?
Not only the shape, but the way of decoration looks very similar to Indian lingams, no?

Varanasi Graffiti Contest

GoVaranasi is proud to announce the graffiti contest for the ancient Varanasi.

The graffiti project “Moscow VS Varanasi. Tags of two realities” is designed to make a jump out of established boxes in our mind — about Russia, India, graffiti, creativity and cities’ environment… whatever boxes are about.

The idea of the contest is to find the best sketch for the famous Indian city Varanasi.
The contest is open for everyone from any country, the participation is free.

If you have a desire to create something really cool, to explore the depth of India, and if you don’t hold any ideologic and hygenic prejudice against Varanasi, you are welcome to send in the sketch to us!

The jury board consisting of talented and authoritative Russian pro’s in graffiti and design will choose the winner. The winner will go on a trip to Varanasi absolutely free of charge to make the painting on the wall of the Varanasi’s Main ghat.


Beginning of the contest – 25th of April, 2011
Deadline for entry – 20th of May, 2011
Travel & exe cu tion — October 2011

For more information about the contest click here

Bringing parents to die in Varanasi

Al Jazeera made a small movie about those who come to die in Varanasi.

The story is about Mukti Bhavan hospice, which provides lodging for three families who brought their old parents to Varanasi. One can stay in the hospice not longer than 15 days, because it's not like a hotel, - says the manager of the hospice

Dust storm and 1 000 baloons explosion hit Varanasi

Severe dust storm and 1 000 baloons explosion strike Varanasi as dropping temperatures by 3 degrees brings respite from scorching heat.

Times of India report, that the dust storm accompanied by light showers disrupted the power supply in many parts of city. The southern parts were worst affected as snapping of electric cables was reported in these areas. Reports of uprooting of trees and snapping of tree branches creating traffic congestion came in, even from the neighbouring districts.

Utter chaos prevailed at Azad Park in Lahurabir area when fire broke out after over 1,000 balloons exploded simultaneously on Monday afternoon.


Просмотреть увеличенную карту

To take part in the Bharatiya Janata Party's rally, one Sunita Singh along with her supporters carried out a procession from Nati Imali area. The participants were carrying 1,000 balloons. While passing through Lahurabir, they entered Azad Park to garland the statue of Chandrashekhar Azad.

In the meantime, the balloons exploded simultaneously, after which the hydrogen gas spread there. People clothes caught fire in the incident and many panicked, alleging that the bomb went off.

But when police reached the incident site, it became clear that the incident took place due to simultaneous explosion of balloons. The injured were rushed to the nearby hospital.

Cutting noise in Varanasi

Fighting the scourge of noise pollution for a long time, a local organisation - the Satya Foundation, asked the Varanasi authorities to fight the noise pollution in the city.

The website thenews24x7 says, that the Varanasi authorities assured of strict action against people making noise. Especially were mentioned 1) late night parties (are there any in Varanasi?), 2) wedding ceremonies and 3) religious programmes (are they going to cut down on the religious ceremonies?). The authorities have plans to form flying squads that would nab the noise offenders after 10 pm.
I wonder, if those flying squads would produce even more noise )

The demand from the Satya Foundation also included
- compulsory installation of noise pollution display boards at all the marriage lawns and public places through the respective police stations,
- immediate police intervention on the complaint of noise pollution,
- strict legal action under Amended Noise Pollution Rules-2010 against the offenders,
- availability of sound level decibel meters and drive against those using pressure horn and hooter.

Elephants in Varanasi

If you thought, that elephants are only for South India, if you thought, that Varanasi is all about cows, monkeys and goats, you would have been as surprised as we were, seeing the elephant walking down to the Main Dasashwameth Ghat.

It was on Shivaratri, one of the major festivals in India, commemorating the wedding of Lord Shiva. On such a special occasion they even brought the elephant there.

He was part of a huge procession, that seemed quite bizzare to the Western eye, everyone very solemn and festive, dressed up accordingly to the sacred meaning of the parade.