Bénarès - Varanasi 2
Arriving in Varanasi at night in torrential rain…
Part of the city is flooded, so much so that the taxi dropped me off 2 km from the old town. It was impossible for him to get closer. Even tuk-tuks (auto-rickshaws) can’t get to the old town. So I traveled the rest of the way with a moped… Then I had to wade through 10 cm of water to enter the old town where my hotel is located.
During my first stay, I was returning from Nepal; the water level of the Ganges was at its lowest. This time, it was mid-July; the melting ice in the Himalayas had raised the level by more than 25 meters. The famous Ghats were therefore underwater…
One of the many temples in the old city:
Floods do not prevent ablutions:
Raja Harishchandra Ghat
This is one of the ghats dedicated to cremations. When the Ganges River is low, a promontory installed on the steps is used for cremations. When the water level rises, other promontories are available in an old building. But this time, the recent torrential rains caused the buildings to collapse. So, the cremations continue, but higher up, directly on the muddy ground of a path. The cremation loses its solemn character, but hey, there’s no choice…
Photos and videos are taken from a promontory overlooking Raja Harishchandra Ghat. This promontory contains a small temple dedicated to Shiva. In one of the videos, we can see the collapse of the walls due to torrential rains. The other photos and videos show devotion to Shiva.
On the way to the old town…
Manikarnika Ghat
Shiva’s trident and the symbol of the sound “AUM”
With the participants’ permission…
The body is burned for two hours, the bones are collected and thrown into the Ganges.
120 kg of wood is required for a cremation. The cost of wood is 750 Rs/kg, or 90,000 Rs (approximately €900).
Sarnath
16 km north of Varanasi lies the Buddhist center of Sarnath. It is here that Buddha is said to have delivered his first discourse.
Numerous monasteries once existed on the site. Today, only vestiges remain, uncovered by recent excavations. It also contains the oldest known stupa: the Dharma Chakra Stupa. Today, it is called Dhamekh.
MULGANDH KUTI VIHAR Temple. Inside, a fresco depicts Buddha impervious to temptation.
Before enlightenment, there is a first stage, which is liberation (“Moksha” in Sanskrit and “awakening” for Buddhists).
As soon as consciousness allows liberation, desire no longer has meaning because the person is full, whole. The person is one with everything. However, temptation is everywhere around us. If the person gives in, it’s a return to illusion, to Maya. The only solution that allows one to remain in a state of liberation is to worship God.
Desire and attachment are the two pillars of Maya. Maya is the illusion that keeps human beings trapped in the cycle of reincarnation.
