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.

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.

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?

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.

Geography of Varanasi

As for the physical geography of Varanasi,

Varanasi is located on the Western bank of the Ganges river in Northern India. The Indian state is Uttar Pradesh. In Varanasi the sacred Ganges makes a moon-like turn and flows to the North, while usually most rivers in northern hemisphere are destined South.

If we count from Delhi, Varanasi is 780 km to the South-East of the capital.

If you drive a car, or rather, hire a driver, the road to Varanasi will take more than 16 hours. You will have to ride creepy Indian roads, which are unlit at night and remain in dire condition for the last 50 years. As one school of Indian driving puts it, local "roads" are not meant to commute from here to there, it’s the road themselves that run from here to there.

You can also take some time to enjoy the countryside and hire an auto rickshaw, this is one of the most extraordinary ways to travel – it will take you a couple of days. I personally have not heard of any foreigner, who found the courage to make such a journey.

The most common way to get to Varanasi is taking a train (13 to 17 hour-long trip) or book air tickets (1.5 hours flight). The train tickets cost around Rs1 000 ($ 25), flight – from Rs 2 000 to Rs 10 000 ($46-250) depending on the season and the time of booking. The cheapest tickets are booked about 2 months before the flight.

After you have landed in Varanasi, you will need a taxi to reach the city – the price tag is around Rs 550 ($13). The ride will take about 1.5 hours depending on traffic situation, which is totally unpredictable.

As for the mystical geography of the city,

Varanasi is considered to be the center of space and time, located above the Earth. The locals believe that the city rests on the Shiva’s trident, between Heaven and Earth.

The common belief is that it’s not very easy to reach the city. The molecules of your destiny would tuck in such a way that would hinder your trip plans. But at the same time whenever you decide to come to Varanasi, the sheer determination to accomplish that makes your karma a bit better. And it will drastically improve onwards should you enter the city, see the Ganges and bathe in it.

And if you have come to Varanasi for however a short trip, you will probably tilt towards visiting it again and again. One of the names of the city is Avimukta – a never forsaken city, maybe that is the reason why a lot of people do come back.

Pinda death ritual

Maybe you have heard about one very interesting ritual with rice balls - pindas, performed after death in India. Since this ceremony is easy to spot on Varanasi ghats, we have decided to take a close look on it.

We called our friend brahmin in Varanasi, and here is what he said.

The pinda, though very small and seemingly unsophisticated, plays a significant role in death rituals, assisting the soul of the dead person to avoid some serious problems.

After the cremation, when the soul have left the body through the hole in the skull, the rice balls are offered to the soul during 12 days. A new ball each day. Why 12? Because it takes exactly this amount of time for the soul to reach the world of ancestors - the mysterious Pitriloka.

On the way to Pitrilka the soul may encounter some grave troubles. Like it can get stuck between Heaven and Earth, turning into a ghost or into an ever-hunger spirit. But the pinda rituals actually help the soul to proceed smoothly on its way.

The balls symbolize a transferring body and offer a temporary asylum for the soul. The thing is, after death, the soul gets quite confused - what to do and where to go. And since there is no body anymore, it needs some anchor. And this is what the pindas are made for.

There's also a theory, that the soul actually feeds on those balls, but that is not very clear. The balls are composed of rice flour, and sometimes sesame and barley flour. What exactly meaning is assigned to those ingredients, our friend brahmin couldn't tell us on the spot, but promised to ask his grandfather, a 90 year old ayurveda professor. We'll keep you updated on this. Probably, the soul somehow likes the sesame.

On with the ritual. On the 10th day there's a special ceremony for the balls. The pinda is left on the ground for the crows. Crows are considered as a symbol of Yama - the lord of death in Hinduism. The crows are very greedy, and yet very clever. A lot of things could be discovered watching their behaivour. So sometimes the crows would not come near the pinda, as if something or someone scares them away.

This means that the soul tries to get the attention of the relatives. It hovers above the rice ball and keeps the crows at a distance - this is the only way the soul can send a message to the relatives.

Apparently, the soul is in pain because of vasana - a fundamental desire, which it failed to fulfill during lifetime. And if the relatives are ready to help, they should approach the pinda and say "Should you have any unsatisfied desire, come to my dream or let me know about it in some other way". And then the deceased person will try to establish a contact.

On the 12th day the soul finds itself in Pitrlioka, and its future is defined by its karma. The soul can attain - reunite with the God, or get a new life on Earth.

Later on the pinda ritual is done after in a year. The name of the deceased is muttered over the rice balls and the family dips into Ganges rivers. If the first ritual was performed in some sacred city, like Varanasi, there is no need to perfom it for the second time.