There are many on Earth interesting places, to which travelers flock for various reasons. People go to some cities because of their beauty, to others because of delicious food or museums. And tourists go to the city of the dead Varanasi (India) to be horrified. Many horror stories are told about it, but the flow of visitors here is only increasing. Why? Let's talk about why Varanasi - the city of the dead in India - is so popular among tourists, what is true and what is fiction in the stories about this place.
Geographical position
Varanasi, the so-called city of the dead, is located in India, on west bank Ganges River. This river is amazing because, unlike all the rivers in the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth, it does not flow from north to south, but, on the contrary, from south to north. Maybe that's why Hindus consider it sacred. The Ganges is one of the 20 largest waterways in the world, and its basin is the most densely populated in the world. The river irrigates fields, provides water to 400 million people, Hindus raft along it, wash with its water, etc. The city is located in the northeast of the country, almost 800 km from the capital of the state - Delhi. The most convenient way to get here is by plane, although the city is connected to other regions by rail and road.
Name
The name of the city of Varanasi, according to experts, comes from the names of two rivers: Assi and Varuna. Both rivers flow into the Ganges - one upstream, the other downstream. But this settlement has several more names. Local people call it Benares (an ancient name), Avimuktaka ("city that cannot be left"), Anandakanana, Mahasmasana, Surandhana, Brahma Vardha, Sudarshana, Ramya and Kashi ("shining city"). Hindus believe that it was created by Shiva, and sometimes refer to the deity as the Supreme Lord of the Shining City. Locals most often call it Kashi. And they believe that Varanasi is the center of space and time, it stands on the trident of Shiva and is located between heaven and earth.
Story
Varanasi appeared in ancient times, like many ancient cities in India. The Hill of the Dead, on which the city grew, was inhabited at least 5 thousand years ago. The exact date of foundation of the settlement is unknown. But in the Vedas of the second millennium BC. e. the city is mentioned as the place where the world began, as the center of the Universe. It has long been the center of Hinduism, a sacred city. In addition, Varanasi was a center of trade and a major religious and educational center. The city flourished, although it was repeatedly attacked by Muslims and more than once destroyed almost to the ground. But it is not for nothing that he is considered eternal, because he was resurrected again and again.
But in the 11th century, Muslim raids brought the city into decline, which intensified from the 13th to the 17th centuries, when Varanasi was ruled first by the Delhi Sultanate and then by the Mongol Empire. In the 17th century, the strengthening of the Maratha Empire and the gradual revival of the city began. It becomes the capital of the independent state of Kashi. At the end of the 18th century, this country came under British rule. East India Company. British rule lasted until the mid-20th century. This time was quite prosperous for Varanasi. A railway and electricity were installed here, and many trade and manufacturing enterprises, a university and several institutes appeared here. At the same time, the city remained the center of Hinduism and culture. In the era of independence, Varanasi strengthens its position as the educational and economic center of the region. At the end of the 20th century, there were several conflicts on religious grounds, but gradually everything settled down. Today in the city there are temples of several religions, tourism is actively developing, industrial production is growing, new cultural and educational establishments. But for the whole world, the city still remains the most important center of Hinduism.
Holy City
Which city is the same age as Babylon, which place is considered one of the most contagious on Earth, where people come to die? This is all about Varanasi - the city of the dead in India. Photos from the streets and embankments of this city are not recommended for the faint of heart; only local residents can drink water from the river here, and tourists are better off not touching anything at all. All this is due to the fact that in Hinduism, Varanasi is the city in which it is best to die. According to local legend, Kashi is the city of Shiva. Therefore, you just have to want to come here, and the sins of three lives will be written off from your karma; if a person went to Varanasi, then he is destined for a good rebirth, and if he has already come to Kashi, then moksha is practically guaranteed for him. Anyone who dies in Varanasi is forever freed from the torment of rebirth. Even if a person died somewhere else, but was cremated in Kashi, it will have a positive effect on his karma. Therefore, any true Hindu dreams of being buried here. To cremate a person, you need about 400 kilograms of firewood and 4 hours of time. Therefore, people have to languish in line next to the corpses for a long time.
And Hindus also flock here who dream of giving up their lives in the Holy City. So they sit on the banks of the Ganges or wander around the city and wait for death. But, in addition to burial, people also go to Varanasi to take a bath in the sacred waters of the Ganges River.
Religious buildings
Any sacred place the world is usually known for its churches and places of worship, but there are no places famous for their crematoria anywhere. Nowhere but Varanasi is the most unique city in India. The dead are burned in special temples called ghats, but ritual ablutions are also performed here. There are 84 such establishments in the city. Today you can burn bodies only at two sites: in the most famous ghat - Manikarnika, where fires have not gone out for several thousand years, and in Harishchandra. There are huge queues of people who have brought their loved ones for burial. At each site, between 400 and 600 bodies are burned daily. But besides the ghats, there are several in Varanasi where people meditate and pray. The most famous of them is Kashi Vishwanath, the temple of the Lord of existence, or Shiva. Every Hindu dreams of visiting this temple at least once, since this visit, together with a bath in the Ganges, grants moksha. The city also has several Buddhist temples and the famous Dhamek Stupa.
Rituals and rituals
Many people know that Varanasi is a city in India where the dead are burned. But cremation is still a relatively harmless rite. After all, there is also a tradition of simply releasing corpses along the Ganges River. Hindus also go to Varanasi to take a bath in the Ganges. These three main rituals attract people to the city great amount pilgrims. And they turn this place into something like chaos. Each ritual has a strict sequence of actions, its own prayers, but they are all performed in the same places - on the river bank. Therefore, here you can see people floating on dead river bodies or half-decomposed corpses washed up on the shore, next to them are the ashes of the bodies, in which burnt arms, legs, and heads are visible. And nearby, in the same river, people are washing themselves with a happy expression on their faces... The spectacle is truly for people with strong nerves.
Myths and truth about the City of the Dead
Varanasi (India) has acquired various legends and rumors during its unique life. If you believe all these stories, then the city appears to be the most terrible place on the ground. But in reality, everything does not quite correspond to stereotypical ideas. Let's look at the main ones.
It is believed that corpses are burned everywhere in Varanasi, and the dead are everywhere there. This is not entirely true. Bodies are burned only in two places on the embankment; in the rest of the city the dead are not visible.
There is an opinion that the Ganges is the dirtiest river in the world, because corpses float along it. And indeed it is. Corpses float down the river, sink to the bottom, and lie along the shore. According to experts, about 45 thousand uncremated bodies remain at the bottom of the Ganges every year. In addition, the ashes from burned people are also washed into the river. So, any infections can be found in the Ganges water, and therefore it is better to stay away from it. Although the Hindus themselves not only wash themselves in it, but even drink this water and continue to live peacefully.
People also think that there is nothing more to see in Varanasi except cremation rites. It's not like that at all. The city is full of various cultural and sporting events; there are restaurants, discos, and shops. Everything is like in any big city.
Attractions
Varanasi is the city of the dead in India, but not only. It is also a large city, in which, in addition to religious rituals, life is in full swing, including cultural life. In addition to the ghats, tourists are recommended to look at the university building - this is an excellent example of colonial architecture. The red temple of Goddess Durga is worth seeing. It is home to flocks of monkeys, which is why it is sometimes called the Monkey Temple. Another attraction is the Bharat Mata Temple, where the inauguration ceremony of M. Gandhi took place. The city also has several museums and exhibition halls where you can learn about local history and culture.
City life
City of the Dead Varanasi (India) is a large locality, it is home to more than 1.5 million people, with a population density of almost 1,000 people per square kilometer. In addition, there are many pilgrims and tourists here, so the streets are very noisy and crowded. Transport is usually crowded, drivers drive according to rules only known to them. So this city does not allow you to relax and unwind.
Varanasi is a major economic center and has many shops and markets. The main industry is related to the manufacture of Benares silk, the best in India. Luxurious saris are made from it, which are very expensive, but these outfits also look like real works of art. There are also many craft workshops in Varanasi: bone and wood carvers, potters, tanners, blacksmiths. Their products make excellent souvenirs.
Instructions for use
There are special rules that must be followed when arriving in the city of the dead in India. You can only take photos of people and rituals in Varanasi for money. If a tourist starts photographing a cremation or people on the shore, they immediately demand money or a permit, which can also be purchased. If a tourist refuses to pay, they may take away his camera or phone and even beat him. Another danger is monkeys. There are a lot of them here, and they drag everything they see. Therefore, doors and windows in the hotel must be closed, and nothing should be left unattended anywhere. It is better to move around the city by taxi and with a local guide. Since single tourists are immediately surrounded by a crowd of beggars and scammers.
Hello friends! I continue to process my numerous travel notes. Especially a lot of them accumulated since (I kept a paper diary then). And today, ancient Varanasi is next in line - the city of the dead, where the streets are older than the Bible, and the Ganges is more sacred than all the shrines of the world. We came here from Nepal, by train from Nautanwa station, where in 1950 the expedition of Morris Erzog, the first person to climb an eight-thousander, arrived.
Photo 1. Varanasi, ghats along the Ganges
The first thing that caught my eye was the crowding and fussiness. Here, like everywhere else in India, everything is very hectic and crazy. In an enterprising rickshaw we go to look for accommodation to the Ganges embankment, called here ghats or ghats. Speaking in simple language, a ghat is a place leading down to the river, paved with steps. Similar simple architecture is found in many cities in India, but few places have the same sacred meaning, as in Varanasi. It is on the ghats, of which there are as many as 84, that funeral pyres have been burning for 5,000 years.
I attended the cremation in 2012, so the sights of charred corpses and the smell of fried things did not surprise me. However, in contemplating this process I found a very deep meaning. The fire slowly disintegrates the mortal body, from which after the ceremony nothing remains but ashes. This is a great reminder of the shortness of our life. earthly path and about the authenticity of our efforts in a series of endless days.
An ambiguous call, because it is not clear what is under the shroud
However, it seemed to me that many people come here stupidly for the sake of vague corpse-philia, to remember how human remains burn and how decomposing corpses float into oblivion. All this was picked up by enterprising Hindus who, like all petty swindlers, are trying to scam compassionate Caucasians out of coins, either for the benefit of those dying in a hospice, or for donations to a temple, or for the cremation of the rootless poor. Despite the dubiousness of all the measures outlined, sometimes it is useful to give 200 rupees to a young Indian, not for the sake of a cunning scheme, but simply for an excursion. It is really very interesting to listen to legends there in order to begin to more deeply understand some cultural and social processes.
Photo 2. Harichandra Ghat, funeral pyres
There are only 2 ghats with funeral pyres - Manikarnika (ghat) and Harichandra (ghat). The first is a complete cemetery with smoke-stained walls, and the second is a small patch with 2-3 fires, above which an electric crematorium rises with black eye sockets. Suicides, untouchables and other outcasts are burned there, because it is believed that they are unworthy of being burned on the banks of the sacred river.
The remaining ghats are often used by yogis, snake charmers, young people and all sorts of different people for walks and relatively honest ways of taking money from tourists. At the Dasaswamed ghat, every evening at 19-00 a puja, Ganga-arati, is held, a beautiful religious ceremony in honor of the goddess Ganga, bringing together tourists and religious Hindus.
Photo 3. Puja Ganga-arati
Accommodation in Varanasi
The main concentration of housing is along the ghats. There is especially a lot of it near Shivala Ghat. True, the walk from there to the main crematorium is about 40 minutes. But calmer.
Sarnath and other attractions of Varanasi
Varanasi (aka: Kashi, Banarasi or Benares) was mentioned back in the oldest book Rigveda as a center of education and scholarship. Therefore, there are a large number of different universities located in the city and its surroundings. However, spiritual life has always occupied a central place in the life of the city.
For example, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple!
Up to madness Holy place, hidden in the labyrinth of narrow streets of old Varanasi, where to get is a whole puzzle. And to go inside, to the main shrine, is generally a rare success. The fact is that in 2002, terrorists detonated a bomb in this temple, which caused quite violent religious conflicts, which is why a tall wall with barbed wire was erected between the Vishwanath temple and the nearby mosque. And it’s difficult to understand who is really defending themselves from whom in this madness.
I tried to get inside Vishwanath, made my way through the military and police cordons, and stopped at a small Hindu man who stopped me with a simple question: “why do you need to go inside”?? I realized that there was really no need. I was pressed by a huge crowd, and I slowly walked back...
The fact is that the main shrine of this temple is the jyotir lingam, or the self-manifested lingam of light, of which there are only 4 throughout India. It is clear that there are a huge number of people who want to touch the shrine, and curious whites are not very welcome there. Although they say that with proper communication and pretending to be a Hindu, you will be allowed through. However, I didn’t want to deceive others or myself, so I turned around very, very easily...
Fortunately, there are quieter places in the area. Eg:
Sarnath, site of Buddha's first sermon
If Buddha was born and lived in Nepal, then in Sarnath, in the deer park, he gave his first sermon to 10 devoted disciples. In Buddhist parlance, it was here that he first turned the wheel of Dharma. Geographically, the place is marked by the Damekh stupa and is surrounded by a rather nice park, on the territory of which there is a small menagerie, the ruins of a monastery and even a descendant of the legendary Bodhi tree, under which Buddha gained enlightenment. Geographically, it is located in Bodhgaya, 4-5 hours drive from Varanasi.
Photo 4. Damekh Stupa at the site of Buddha's sermon
Getting to Sarnath from Varanasi turned out to be quite a chore. There is no direct bus or train. But, there are rickshaws. We found a cunning bearded Indian who agreed to take us for 400 rupees. However, upon his return, he desperately began to beg for more and tried to enjoy freshly squeezed juice at our expense. Like a child, by God... They didn’t succumb to provocation. They gave exactly as much as agreed.
Moments like this are common in India. You stop being upset about them very quickly. Therefore, our path was not darkened in any way. We had to get to Delhi... and we began to solve a new problem.
How to get to Delhi from Varanasi
Despite the developed road network in India, we did not find a direct bus. The plane seemed unreasonably expensive. We stopped by train. But there are also a lot of problems with trains in India. Often there are no tickets for them for several weeks in advance, but for foreigners you can sometimes buy tickets at special tourist ticket offices based on a quota. Alas, such cash desks cannot be found in every city. In general, we were lucky and we boarded a slipper class train (similar to our reserved seat).
Indian Railways is, of course, trash. This affects both the condition of the carriages and the train schedule, for which being 3-5 hours late is quite normal. Ours was 4 hours late in Delhi. We unloaded into the darkness and dirt of Main Bazaar only at 2 o’clock in the morning (it’s good that it’s a 15-minute walk there) and with difficulty woke up the peacefully sleeping manager in the hotel I loved.
As a conclusion
In general, after a short 3 days in this strange city, I realized that despite all the surreal surroundings, I want to come back here again. The desire is not hot or burning. For example, Kathmandu evokes deeper feelings in me. But the very atmosphere of Varanasi, nicknamed “the city of the dead” for one of its guises, is in fact very life-affirming. Perhaps it is the “horror” images of death that are the main condition for this...
Perhaps on one of my upcoming trips I will settle down here, spread out my laptop on the balcony and continue working on my next project under the aromas of incense and the distant smoke of funeral pyres.
And for a snack - a very atmospheric video!
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Our planet is full of wonderful surprises from nature and ancient civilizations, full of beauty and sights, and you can also find quite unusual, strange, dark traditions and rituals. Although it should be noted that for us they are strange and scary, but for some it is their everyday life, this is their culture.
Varanasi - the city of the dead
Varanasi is an important religious site in the world of Hinduism, a center of pilgrimage for Hindus from all over the world, as ancient as Babylon or Thebes. Here, more strongly than anywhere else, the contradictions of human existence are manifested: life and death, hope and suffering, youth and old age, joy and despair, splendor and poverty. This is a city in which there is so much death and life at the same time. This is a city in which eternity and existence coexist. This the best place to understand what India is, its religion and culture.
IN religious geography Hinduism, Varanasi is the center of the Universe. One of the most sacred cities for Hindus serves as a kind of border between physical reality and the eternity of life. Here the gods descend to earth, and a mere mortal achieves bliss. It is a holy place to live and a blessed place to die. This is the best place to achieve bliss
Varanasi's prominence in Hindu mythology is unparalleled. According to legend, the city was founded by the Hindu God Shiva several thousand years ago, making it one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the country. It is one of the seven holy cities of the Hindus. In many ways, he embodies the best and worst aspects of India, sometimes horrifying to foreign tourists. However, scenes of pilgrims reciting in the rays rising sun praying by the Ganges River, against the backdrop of Hindu temples, is one of the most impressive sights in the world. When traveling through northern India, try not to miss this ancient city.
Founded a thousand years before Christ, Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in the world. It was called by many epithets - “city of temples”, “sacred city of India”, “religious capital of India”, “city of lights”, “city of enlightenment” - and only very recently was its official name restored, first mentioned in the Jataka - an ancient narrative Hindu literature. But many still continue to use the English name Benares, and pilgrims call it nothing more than Kashi - this is what the city was called for three thousand years.
The Hindu truly believes in the wanderings of the soul, which after death moves into other living beings. And he treats death in a kind of special way, but at the same time, in an ordinary way. For a Hindu, death is just one stage of samsara, or the endless game of birth and death. And an adherent of Hinduism also dreams of one day not being born. He strives for moksha - the completion of that very cycle of rebirth, along with which - for liberation and deliverance from the hardships of the material world. Moksha is practically synonymous with Buddhist nirvana: the highest state, the goal of human aspirations, a certain absolute.
For thousands of years, Varanasi has been a center of philosophy and theosophy, medicine and education. English writer Mark Twain, shocked by his visit to Varanasi, wrote: “Benares (the old name) is older than history, older than tradition, older even than the legends and looks twice as old as them all put together.” Many famous and most revered Indian philosophers, poets, writers and musicians have resided in Varanasi. In this glorious city lived the classic of Hindi literature Kabir, the singer and writer Tulsidas wrote the epic poem Ramacharitamanas, which became one of the most famous works of literature in the Hindi language, and Buddha delivered his first sermon in Sarnath, just a few kilometers from Varanasi. Sung by myths and legends, sanctified by religion, it has always attracted a large number of pilgrims and believers since time immemorial.
Varanasi is located between Delhi and Kolkata on the western bank of the Ganges. Every Indian child who has listened to the stories of his parents knows that the Ganga is the largest and holiest of all the rivers in India. main reason visiting Varanasi is, of course, to see the Ganges River. The significance of the river for Hindus is beyond description. She is one of the 20 largest rivers peace. The Ganges River basin is the most densely populated in the world, with a population of over 400 million people. The Ganga is an important source of irrigation and communication for millions of Indians living along the riverbed. Since time immemorial she has been worshiped as the goddess Ganga. Historically, a number of capitals of former principalities were located on its banks.
The largest ghat in the city used for cremation is Manikarnika. About 200 bodies a day are cremated here, and funeral pyres burn day and night. Families bring here the dead who died of natural causes.
The Ganges embankment is the most party place in Varanasi. Here are hermit sadhus smeared in soot: the real ones pray and meditate, the tourist ones pester with offers to be photographed for money. Disdainful European women are trying not to step into sewage, fat American women are filming themselves in front of everything, frightened Japanese are walking around with gauze bandages on their faces - to save themselves from infections. It's full of Rastafarians with dreadlocks, freaks, enlightened and pseudo-enlightened people, schizos and beggars, massage therapists and hashish dealers, artists and other people of every stripe in the world. The diversity of the crowd is incomparable.
Despite the abundance of visitors, it’s difficult to call this city a tourist city. Varanasi still has its own life, and tourists have absolutely nothing to do with it. Here is a corpse floating along the Ganges, a man nearby is washing and beating clothes on a stone, someone is brushing his teeth. Almost everyone swims with happy faces. “Ganga is our mother. You tourists don't understand. You laugh that we drink this water. But for us it is sacred,” the Hindus explain. And indeed, they drink and don’t get sick. Native microflora. Although the Discovery Channel, when making a film about Varanasi, submitted samples of this water for research. The laboratory's verdict is terrible - one drop will, if not kill a horse, then certainly cripple it. There are more nasty things in that drop than there are potentially on the list dangerous infections countries. But you forget about all this when you find yourself on the shore of burning people.
This is Manikarnika Ghat, the main crematorium of the city. There are bodies, bodies and more bodies everywhere. There are dozens of them waiting for their turn at the fire. Burning, smoke, crackling firewood, a chorus of concerned voices and the phrase endlessly ringing in the air: “Ram nam sagage.” A hand stuck out of the fire, a leg appeared, and now a head rolled. The workers, sweating and squinting from the heat, use bamboo sticks to turn over body parts emerging from the fire. I felt like I was on the set of some kind of horror movie. Reality disappears from under your feet.
From the balconies of the “trump” hotels you can see the Ganges, and with it the smoke of funeral pyres. I didn’t want to smell this strange smell all day long, so I moved to a less fashionable area, and away from the corpses. "Friend, good camera! Do you want to film how people are burned?” - rarely, but you hear proposals from pesters. There is not a single law prohibiting the filming of funeral rites. But at the same time, there is not a single chance to take advantage of the absence of a ban. Selling pseudo-film permits is a business for the caste that controls cremation. Five to ten dollars for one click of the shutter, and a double is the same price.
It's impossible to cheat. I had to watch how tourists, out of ignorance, even just pointed the camera towards the fire and came under the most severe pressure of the crowd. These were no longer trades, but racketeering. There are special rates for journalists. The approach to each person is individual, but for a permit to work “in the zone” - up to 2000 euros, and for one photo card - up to a hundred dollars. Street brokers always clarified my profession and only then started bidding. And who am I? Photography student! Landscapes, flowers and butterflies. You say this - and the price is immediately divine, 200 bucks. But there is no guarantee that with a “filka certificate” they will not end up being sent to hell. I continue my search and soon find the main one. “B-i-i-g boss,” they call him on the embankment.
Name is Sures. With a big belly and a leather vest, he proudly walks between the fires - supervising the staff, the sale of wood, and the collection of proceeds. I also introduce myself to him as a novice amateur photographer. “Okay, you have 200 dollars, and rent for a week,” Sures delighted, asked for 100 dollars in advance and showed a sample of the “permishina” - an A4 piece of paper with the inscription a la “I allow. Boss". I didn’t want to buy a piece of paper for two hundred greenbacks again. “To Varanasi City Hall,” I told the tuk-tuk driver. The complex of two-story houses was very reminiscent of a Soviet-era sanatorium. People are fussing with papers and standing in lines.
And the small officials of the city administration, like ours, are sluggish - they spend a long time fiddling with each leaf. I killed half a day, collected a collection of autographs from the big shots of Varanasi and went to the police headquarters. Law enforcement officers offered to wait for the boss and treated him to tea. Made from clay pots, as if from a “Ukrainian souvenir” shop. After drinking tea, the policeman smashes the ice cream on the floor. It turns out that plastic is expensive and not environmentally friendly. But there is a lot of clay in the Ganges and it is free. At a street eatery, such a glass along with tea even cost me 5 rupees. For an Indian it’s even cheaper. A few hours later, an audience was held with the city police chief. I decided to make the most of the meeting and asked him for a business card. “I only have it in Hindi!” — the man laughed. “I offer an exchange. You tell me in Hindi, I tell you in Ukrainian,” I come up with. Now I have in my hands a whole stack of permits and a trump card - the business card of the main man in uniform in Varanasi.
Visitors stare in fear at the fires from afar. Well-wishers approach them and supposedly unselfishly initiate them into the history of Indian funeral traditions. “A fire takes 400 kilograms of wood. One kilogram - 400-500 rupees (1 US dollar - 50 Indian rupees - Author's note). Help the family of the deceased, donate at least a couple of kilograms of money. People spend their entire lives collecting money for the last bonfire,” the tour ends as standard. It sounds convincing, foreigners take out their wallets. And, without suspecting it, they pay for half the fire. After all real price wood - from 4 rupees per kilo. In the evening I come to Manikarnika. Literally a minute later a man comes running and demands to explain how I dare to expose my lens in a sacred place.
When he sees the documents, he respectfully folds his hands to his chest, bows his head and says: “Welcome! You are our friend. Ask for help." This is 43-year-old Kashi Baba from the highest caste of Brahmins. He has been overseeing the cremation process here for 17 years. He says work gives him crazy energy. Hindus really love this place - in the evenings, men sit on the steps and stare at the fires for hours. “We all dream of dying in Varanasi and having our bodies cremated here,” they say something like this. Kashi Baba and I also sit down next to each other. It turns out that bodies began to be burned in this very place 3,500 years ago. Since the fire of the god Shiva was not lit here. It burns even now, it is monitored around the clock, every ritual fire is set on fire from it. Today, between 200 and 400 bodies are reduced to ashes here every day. And not only from all over India. Burning in Varanasi is the last wish of many immigrant Hindus and even some foreigners. Recently, for example, an elderly American was cremated.
Contrary to tourist fables, cremation is not very expensive. To burn a body, it will take 300-400 kilograms of wood and up to four hours of time. A kilogram of firewood starts from 4 rupees. The entire funeral ceremony can start from 3-4 thousand rupees, or 60-80 dollars. But there is no maximum bar. Richer people add sandalwood to the fire for scent, a kilogram of which reaches up to $160. When the Maharaja died in Varanasi, his son ordered a fire made entirely of sandalwood, and scattered emeralds and rubies around. All of them rightfully went to the workers of Manikarnika - people from the Dom-Raja caste.
These are the lowest class of people, the so-called untouchables. Their fate is unclean types of work, which includes burning corpses. Unlike other untouchables, the Dom-Raja caste has money, as even the “raja” element in the name hints at.
Every day these people clean the area, sift and wash through a sieve ash, coals and burnt soil. The task is to find the jewelry. Relatives do not have the right to remove them from the deceased. On the contrary, they inform the guys at the Raja's house that the deceased, say, gold chain, diamond ring and three gold teeth. The workers will find and sell all this. At night there is a glow from fires over the Ganges. The best way to view it is from the roof of the central building, Manikarnika Ghat. “If you fall, you’ll go straight into the fire. Convenient,” Kashi argues, while I stand on the canopy and take a panorama. Inside this building there is emptiness, darkness and walls smoked over decades.
I'll be honest - it's creepy. A wizened granny sits right on the floor, in the corner on the second floor. This is Daya Mai. She doesn’t remember her exact age - she says about 103 years old. Daya spent the last 45 of them in this very corner, in a building near the cremation bank. Waiting for death. He wants to die in Varanasi. This woman from Bihar first came here when her husband died. And soon she lost her son and also decided to die. I was in Varanasi for ten days, almost every day of which I met Daya Mai. Leaning on a stick, in the morning she would go out into the street, walk between the stacks of firewood, approach the Ganges and return to her corner again. And so for the 46th year in a row.
To burn or not to burn? Manikarnika is not the only cremation ground in the city. Here they burn those who die a natural death. And a kilometer earlier, on Hari Chandra Ghat, the dead, suicides, and accident victims are being set on fire. Nearby is an electric crematorium where beggars who have not raised money for firewood are burned. Although usually in Varanasi even the poorest have no problems with funerals. Wood that did not burn out in previous fires is given free of charge to families who do not have enough firewood. In Varanasi, you can always raise money among locals and tourists. After all, helping the family of the deceased is good for karma. But in poor villages there are problems with cremation. There is no one to help. And a body symbolically burned and thrown into the Ganges is not uncommon.
In places where dams form in the sacred river, there is even a profession - collecting corpses. The men sail the boat and collect the bodies, even diving into the water if necessary. Nearby, a body tied to a large stone slab is being loaded into a boat. It turns out that not all bodies can be burned. It is forbidden to cremate sadhus, because they abandoned work, family, sex and civilization, devoting their lives to meditation. Children under 13 are not burned, because it is believed that their bodies are like flowers. Accordingly, it is forbidden to set fire to pregnant women, because there are children inside. It is not possible to cremate a person with leprosy. All these categories of deceased are tied to a stone and drowned in the Ganges.
It is forbidden to cremate those killed by a cobra bite, which is not uncommon in India. It is believed that after the bite of this snake, not death occurs, but coma. Therefore, a boat is made from a banana tree, where the body wrapped in film is placed. A sign with your name and home address is attached to it. And they set sail on the Ganges. Sadhus meditating on the shore try to catch such bodies and try to bring them back to life through meditation.
They say successful outcomes are not uncommon. “Four years ago, 300 meters from Manikarnika, a hermit caught and revived the body. The family was so happy that they wanted to make the sadhu rich. But he refused, because if he takes even one rupee, he will lose all his power,” Kashi Baba told me. Animals are not yet burned, because they are symbols of the gods. But what shocked me most of all was the terrible custom that existed until relatively recently - sati. Widow burning. If a husband dies, the wife must burn in the same fire. This is not a myth or a legend. According to Kashi Baba, this phenomenon was common some 90 years ago.
According to textbooks, widow burning was banned in 1929. But episodes of sati still happen today. Women cry a lot, so they are forbidden to be near the fire. But literally at the beginning of 2009, an exception was made for a widow from Agra. She wanted to say goodbye to her husband for the last time and asked to come to the fire. I jumped there, and when the fire was already burning with might and main. They rescued the woman, but she was badly burned and died before the doctors arrived. She was cremated in the same pyre as her betrothed.
On the other bank of the Ganges from the bustling Varanasi there are deserted expanses. Tourists are not recommended to appear there, because sometimes the village shantrap shows aggression. On the opposite side of the Ganges, villagers wash clothes, and pilgrims are brought there to bathe. Among the sands, a lonely hut made of branches and straw catches your eye. There lives a hermit sadhu with the divine name Ganesh. A man in his 50s moved here from the jungle 16 months ago to perform the puja ritual of burning food in a fire. Like a sacrifice to the gods. He likes to say, with or without reason: “I don’t need money - I need my puja.” In one year and four months, he burned 1,100,000 coconuts and an impressive amount of oil, fruit and other products.
He conducts meditation courses in his hut, which is how he earns money for his puja. For a man from a hut who drinks water from the Ganges, he speaks great English, is well acquainted with the products of the National Geographic Channel and invites me to write down his mobile number. Ganesh used to have normal life, he still occasionally calls back with his adult daughter and ex-wife: “One day I realized that I no longer wanted to live in the city, and I didn’t need a family. Now I'm in the jungle, in the forest, in the mountains or on the river bank.
I don’t need money - I need my puja.” Contrary to the recommendations for visitors, I often swam to the other side of the Ganges to take a break from the endless noise and annoying crowds. Ganesh recognized me from afar, waved his hand and shouted: “Dima!” But even here, on the deserted bank of the other side of the Ganges, you can suddenly shudder. For example, seeing dogs tearing apart human body washed ashore by waves. See, shudder and remember - this is Varanasi, the “city of death”.
If a person died in Varanasi, he is burned 5-7 hours after death. The reason for the rush is the heat. The body is washed and massaged with a mixture of honey, yogurt and various oils and recite mantras. All this in order to open the 7 chakras. Then they wrap it in a large white sheet and decorative fabric. They are placed on a stretcher made of seven bamboo crossbars - also according to the number of chakras.
Family members carry the body to the Ganges and chant the mantra: “Ram nam sagage” - a call to ensure that everything is fine in the next life of this person. The stretcher is dipped into the Ganges. Then the face of the deceased is uncovered, and relatives pour water on it with their hands five times. One of the men of the family shaves his head and dresses in white clothes. If the father died, the eldest son does this, if the mother - younger son, if the wife is the husband. He sets fire to the branches from the sacred fire and walks around the body with them five times. Therefore, the body goes into the five elements: water, earth, fire, air, heaven.
You can only light a fire in a natural way. If a woman has died, they do not completely burn her pelvis; if a man, they do not burn her rib. The shaved man lets this burnt part of his body into the Ganges and through left shoulder extinguishes smoldering coals from a bucket.
At one time, Varanasi was an academic center as well as a religious one. Many temples were built in the city, universities operated and magnificent libraries with texts from Vedic times were opened. However, much was destroyed by the Muslims. Hundreds of temples were destroyed, bonfires with priceless manuscripts burned day and night, and people - carriers of priceless treasures - were also destroyed. ancient culture and knowledge. However, the spirit of the Eternal City could not be defeated. You can feel it even now by walking through the narrow streets of old Varanasi and going down to the ghats (stone steps) on the Ganges River. Ghats are one of the hallmarks of Varanasi (as well as any sacred city for Hindus), as well as an important sacred place for millions of believers. They serve both for ritual ablution and for burning the dead. In general, ghats are the most popular place for the residents of Varanasi - on these steps they burn corpses, laugh, pray, die, walk, make friends, chat on the phone or just sit.
This city makes the strongest impression on travelers to India, despite the fact that Varanasi does not at all look like a ‘holiday for tourists’. Life in this sacred city is surprisingly tightly intertwined with death; It is believed that dying in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River, is very honorable. Therefore, thousands of sick and old Hindus flock to Varanasi from all over the country to meet their death here and be freed from the hustle and bustle of life.
Not far from Varanasi is Sarnath, the place where Buddha preached. It is said that the tree growing in this place was planted from the seeds of the Bodhi tree, the same one under which the Buddha received self-realization.
The river embankment itself is a kind of huge temple, the service in which never ceases - some pray, others meditate, others do yoga. The corpses of the dead are burned here. It is noteworthy that only the bodies of those who require ritual purification by fire are burned; and therefore the bodies of sacred animals (cows), monks, pregnant women are considered to have already been purified by suffering and, without being cremated, they are thrown into the Ganges. This is the main purpose of the ancient city of Varanasi - to give people the opportunity to free themselves from everything corruptible.
And yet, despite the mission that is incomprehensible, and even more so sad for non-Hindus, this city is a very real city with a population of one million. In the cramped and narrow streets you can hear the voices of people, music sounds, and the cries of merchants can be heard. There are shops everywhere where you can buy souvenirs from ancient vessels to saris embroidered with silver and gold.
The city, although not clean, does not suffer as much from dirt and overcrowding as other Indian cities. big cities- Bombay or Calcutta. However, for Europeans and Americans, the street of any Indian city resembles a giant anthill - there is a cacophony of horns, bicycle bells and shouts all around, and even on a rickshaw it turns out to be very difficult to squeeze through the narrow, albeit central streets.
Dead children under the age of 10, the bodies of pregnant women and smallpox patients are not cremated. A stone is tied to their body and thrown from a boat into the middle of the Ganges River. The same fate awaits those whose relatives cannot afford to buy enough wood. Cremation at the stake costs a lot of money and not everyone can afford it. Sometimes the purchased wood is not always enough for cremation, and then the half-burnt remains of the body are thrown into the river. Quite common occurrence see the charred remains of the bodies of the dead floating in the river. An estimated 45,000 uncremated bodies are buried in the river bed each year, adding to the toxicity of already heavily polluted water. What shocks visiting Western tourists seems quite natural for Indians. Unlike Europe, where everything happens behind closed doors, in India every aspect of life is visible on the streets, be it cremation, washing clothes, bathing or cooking.
The Ganga River was somehow miraculously able to cleanse itself for many centuries. Until 100 years ago, germs such as cholera could not survive in its sacred waters. Unfortunately, today the Ganga is one of the five most polluted rivers in the world. First of all, due to toxic substances discharged by industrial enterprises along the river bed. The level of contamination by some microbes exceeds permissible levels by hundreds of times. Visiting tourists are struck by the complete lack of hygiene. Ashes of the dead, sewage effluent and offerings float past worshipers as they bathe and perform purification ceremonies in the water. From a medical perspective, bathing in water containing decomposing corpses carries the risk of infections with numerous diseases, including hepatitis. It's a miracle that so many people take a dip and drink the water every day without feeling any harm. Some tourists even join the pilgrims.
Numerous cities located on the Ganges also contribute to the pollution of the river. Based on the report of the Central Pollution Control Board environment It follows that Indian cities recycle only about 30% of their sewage. Nowadays the Ganges, like many other rivers in India, is extremely clogged. It contains more sewage than fresh water. And industrial waste and the remains of cremated people accumulate along its banks.
Thus, the First City on Earth (as Varanasi is called in India) produces a strange and incredibly strong, indelible impact on tourists - it is impossible to compare it with anything, just as it is impossible to compare religions, peoples and cultures.
Sorry if anything turned out very unsightly.
And finishing your life’s journey here and thereby breaking the wheel of Samsara and completing the series of rebirths is the dream of every believer! Varanasi aka Benares and Kashi - the city of light is considered the most ancient living city on earth. According to legends, it was created by Shiva more than 5000 years ago, and based on scientific data, 3000 years. But despite everything written above, for an unprepared traveler the city can cause a state of confusion or even shock, probably more than any other city in India. The greatest impression is made by the cremation processes of the deceased on the banks of the Ganges.
Varanasi is the oldest city on earth, standing on the banks of the sacred Ganges River. It was once the same age as Luxor, Babylon and Nineveh. Now only ruins remain of those great Metropolis, and Varanasi stands and is considered the oldest living city on Earth.
Maybe he is actually protected by the great Shiva, who created him.
For Hindus, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of this city; every believer should visit here and plunge into the sacred Ganges at least once in their life. And to die in the holy city is the ultimate desire for a devout Hindu. It is not surprising that many of them consider it the center of the universe.
Another name for Benares is the city of funeral pyres. When the British first arrived in Benares, they were simply shocked by what was happening. On the ghats along the entire embankment of the city, fires burned, burning corpses. In place of the burnt brands thrown into the Ganges, new dead ones were immediately brought up. The campfire workers used sticks to mix unburned human remains with smoldering coals. The smell of burnt meat and hair hung over the entire city. It was an unreal, huge crematorium, the life of which the whole city lived. After what they saw, the British decided to bring everything to a civilized view, in their understanding of this word. They wanted to move everything away from the city, but met desperate resistance and indignation from the people. Fearing an uprising, they abandoned their idea and left everything as it was. And to this day in Varanasi, although not on such a scale, cremations take place on the banks of the Ganges. Nowadays the main cremation site is Manikarnya Ghat. Funeral pyres burn there without stopping, and along the narrow streets, stretchers with the dead are constantly brought to these bonfires. For many, everything that is happening may seem like a plot from a horror movie: when they stir the fire with a stick with the deceased, the corpse’s arm or head may fall off. A dog can be seen gnawing on a human bone. Or while sailing on a boat on the Ganges and bump into a floating bloated corpse. According to Hindu concepts, virgins, monks and infants are not cremated, but rather “buried” in the Ganges.
Of course, Varanasi is not a simple city and not everyone will understand it. But some come back here again and again. While there, I felt an inexplicable calm and peace. And also a touch of eternity.
Varanasi is older than history, older than traditions,
older than even the legends and looks twice as old,
than all of them combined.
Mark Twain
Varanasi prices
Meal prices: Omelette of 2 eggs 30-50 rupees, a chicken dish on average 150 rupees, coffee with milk or tea 15-30 rupees, flatbread with cheese 35 rupees, rice with stewed potatoes with spices 90 rupees, 2 liter bottle of water in the store 25 rupees .
On average, food per day will cost 300-350 rupees.
Accommodation prices: a bed in a hostel is approximately 100 rupees, prices for a room in a hostel on the banks of the Ganges start from 150 rupees. Further prices will be higher depending on the level of the hotel. But the more expensive is not always better; I personally experienced this and moved from a more expensive and less convenient hotel, which was located 1 km from the Ganges, to a cheaper one on the very bank of the river.
Keep in mind that the price of the hotel may be higher if a rickshaw or taxi driver takes you there, as he will receive a commission for this. The best option don’t overpay for your accommodation through commission, negotiate with the owner of the hotel where you are going to stay to meet you at the station.
Transport prices: bicycle rickshaws from 50 rupees distance from the railway station to the old city. The same distance can cost 250 rupees depending on the time and circumstances.
On average, the cost of 1 day of accommodation in Varanasi will be approximately 350 (food) + 200 (accommodation) = 550 rupees - this does not include transport.
Photos of travel to Varanasi
Varanasi day one
Streets of Varanasi
Almost all the central streets of the city are filled with people, pedicabs, tuk-tuks, cars and buses, and all of this moves in one column, with noise and din. Such a concentration of people, vehicles and sounds, for an unprepared person, is simply shocking.
On the central streets of Varanasi, there is traffic almost all the time. There are a whole bunch of people, cars, animals, flowers and sounds around you. Maybe some people are attracted to this color, but for me it was enough for 15 minutes.
I was an eyewitness when two buses almost crushed a man who was getting between them. The first desire I had was to inspect everything I had planned as quickly as possible and get the hell out of this mess.
But when I settled in a guesthouse on the very bank of the Ganga with a view of the river itself, the funeral firewood and the entire surrounding area. I was visited by an incomprehensible calm and tranquility with a feeling of touching eternity. And I caught myself thinking that the desire to leave the city had completely disappeared.
From the side window of my guesthouse I had a view of the rooftops of ancient Benares. Here is the address of this guest house: Kashi guest house top restaurant with Ganga view ck9/5, Manikarnika (Burring) Ghat, Varanasi e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You must have JavaScript enabled to view it. The room rate in 2012 was 150 rupees. tel:9305144163 9648993739. You can call and they will come for you. And it’s even better to do this, otherwise local taxi drivers like to bring you to other guest houses in order to receive a commission for you, and you will receive the price for housing taking into account this commission.
In the guesthouse there was a café, not very attractive in appearance, but with a view of the Ganges and ancient temples. And besides, with not bad cuisine. At that time, there was a pleasant company of young Frenchmen who were smoking marijuana, listening to reggae and contemplating the surrounding views of the great city, or simply lying on the trestle bed. There was also a young Englishwoman who also smoked and, after a few puffs, took up her knitting needle and knitted something.
Temple on the banks of the Ganges
The first colorful characters I met on the way to the ghats and the sacred Ganga. In general, there are many interesting personalities in Varanasi. Some of them are real ascetics or servants of their god. And many people dress up to make money by taking photos with tourists.
On the banks of the Ganges, Hindus wash, wash clothes, pray, and cremated corpses are thrown into the river itself. From a certain time, you can make money here from tourists. For many, this river is their whole life.
The Eternal City - Varanasi (Benares, Kashi) and its skyscrapers.
Steps on the streets of the old city.
Pilgrim
New day prayer.
Big Wash.
Funeral firewood on the banks of the Ganges at Manikarnika Ghat. Manikarnika Ghat, considered one of the most sacred ghats (ghats). Cremation processes occur almost constantly. The charred remains are dumped into the river.
Mentor and student.
Boatman.
Ghats of Varanasi.
Another day in the eternal city is coming to an end.
Sunset in Varanasi.
Faithful servant of the Lord.
And this is a very respected woman. There were many people around him who asked him many questions. He answered them with a very important look.
In the evenings in Varanasi at the Dashashwamedh ghat, a mesmerizing spectacle takes place. Hindu priests - Brahmins, conduct arati. Arati is a ritual involving lighting candles and offering offerings of flowers, fruits and sweets. The sacred ritual expresses worship of Shiva, mother Ganga, Surya (sun), Agni (fire), and the entire universe.
Ritual bowls.
The Arati ritual is very spectacular; it is visited by a huge number of people, both Indians themselves and tourists. Many people take convenient places in advance to take the most successful and beautiful photographs.
Second day in Varanasi
Ghats in Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges, the most visited place by tourists. But despite this, life here goes on as usual. Someone washes, someone prays, someone washes, and someone smoothes the sari, as in in this case. The good thing about India is that, despite strict living rules, tourists have free access almost everywhere. And it turns out as if you are plunging into this world yourself and living the same life with the people around you, and not watching everything from the window of a tourist bus.
Ghats of Varanasi. Many residents of the holy city on the Ganges spend their entire lives. This is where they are born, live, and this is where they must begin their final journey.
Indian fakir, snake charmer.
And here the cobra decided to “not give a damn” about the fakir’s magic and spells and crawl away in the direction it needed. But it was not there! The snake is an important part of earning money for this Hindu.
Well, what would a sacred city be like without sacred animals?
Funeral wood.
Here you can clearly see how the funeral wood is weighed and, apparently, the price for it is discussed. Many people do not have enough money to pay for the amount of firewood needed to completely burn the deceased. And then everything that managed to burn is thrown into the Ganges.
Scales for funeral firewood.
A significant part of the streets closest to Manikarnika Ghat are lined with firewood for cremations.
Streets of the old city.
On the right is one of the most revered symbols for worship in India, the lingam (male genital organ) and yoni ( female organ). The combination of these two symbols means that the male and female foundations are the eternal and unchanging essence of human existence.
Tired old man.
Local
The modest life of the inhabitants of Benares. A swastika is visible on the wall to the right. The swastika in India is a symbol of life, light, generosity and abundance.
These are the doors that houses in the old city have.
And such ancient windows in the web are not uncommon.
On the ancient door, you can even see a sign with the address.
Boats in Varanasi have great value. This is not only a way of crossing, but also a way of earning money for local residents; they take tourists on rides along the Ganges. The cost per hour is approximately 150 rupees in 2012.
Dashashwamedh ghat
Ritual ablutions.
Not only tourists sail boats on the Ganges, but Hindus themselves love to do it.
Night fell on Benares.
Night view of Varanasi from the eastern bank of the Ganges. There are no and it is believed that there were once no buildings on the eastern bank. It is considered to be the world where Shiva transports the souls of the dead. It is believed that those lucky enough to die here complete the cycle of rebirth and death. For a devout Hindu, this is the highest good. Many people, feeling the approach of death, specially come here. There are shelters for such people in Varanasi.
Manikarnika Ghat is considered the main ghat for cremations. They look askance at people with a camera there, not to mention the fact that they are free to take photos. Photography is only possible by special arrangement and for a small fee. Therefore, I had to take photographs at night from the opposite eastern bank of the Ganges.
Panorama of the great city of Varanasi, Benares, Kashi. The city of life, death and light, created by Shiva more than 5000 years ago.
“My expedition, having passed through Delhi, Rajasthan, having visited Indian gypsies and Mumbai prostitutes, having frozen all night at the Agra night station, entered the hero city of Varanasi for the new year 2015,” says exclusively for BigPicchi Peter Lovygin.
(Total 32 photos)
1. Varanasi is a special city for Indians. Not everyone dreams of living in it, not everyone manages to die in it, but every Indian dreams of being burned on the banks of Varanasi and the ashes falling into the Ganges. Varanasi is a city of special funeral significance for them. But I'm not Indian. I chose Varanasi to celebrate the new year 2015. It doesn’t matter that on January 1, the water supply and sewerage system suddenly turned off in the city, and in our room in the December frosts there was no glass in the window. We laid it with a map of India in a frame that we took off the wall. The roof leaked shamelessly because it was raining from the sky all day on New Year's Day. But despite this, Varanasi is a Great City.
2. Ganga is the vein of the city. If there were no Ganga, there would be no Varanasi. The city owes everything to her. The Ganga embankment is a unique square of the city. Every evening here comes the time of Puja, a Hindu ritual, when a dozen young people, with a large crowd of people on land and a myriad of boats on the water, offer food, fire and other gifts to their deities. Here barbers cut people's hair, Hindu meetings are held, yogis bend their limbs for the benefit of the Universe.
3. Ghats (descents to water) Ganges is also a public bathhouse under open air. Liters of Pantene Pro-V pour from their steps into the water. Fat-bellied men dive into the waters. The heads of holy elders with long beards stick out of the water, and it is unclear how they find a mouth among all this snow-white growth when they want to eat.
5. In one beautiful book with pages rustling in the wind, I read that the Indians had long ago connected one end of the Ganga to the other. And now it flows in a circle. Then they built a sacred power plant with a perpetual motion machine.
6. Laundry is washed. Cattle wash themselves.
7. Laundry is dried on such dirty surfaces that there is not much point in washing it. It immediately becomes the same as before. This is the specificity of all Indian laundries: there is constant employment! I washed it - put it to dry - it got dirty - started washing again - washed it - put it to dry - and so on...
8. The sky over the Ganga is busy with the war of kites. The lines from them stretched from one bank of the Ganges to the other so that all these mountains of laundry, washed in its waters, could be dried across the current. In the meantime, women in saris have not thought of this and simply lay out these shirts and shirts, panties and kilometer-long sheets in the sun so that you can read from a satellite magic symbol Ohm.
9. And one old man took and built a new highway from Varanasi to Allahabad from cow dung.
10. But the main attraction of Varanasi is the two ghats where the bodies of the dead are burned. Filming here is strictly prohibited. These shots were taken at my own peril and risk, since my camera has the ability to remain unnoticed. The line of wood supplies begins long before approaching the water.
11. It takes several hours and about 400 kilograms of wood to burn a person. The Indians are bad at setting fires. I have a friend who, in any rain, with one match... up to 70% skin. And of course, in addition to firewood, the most popular product here is a means for ignition.
12. The camera does not allow you to get closer to the corpse. But, passing by, at a distance of half a meter, you can see that the corpse is far from fresh. Let's just say, "lying down." And obviously not a week, but more. Like the gypsies in Moldova, the deceased lies for several weeks and no one is in a hurry to bury him.
13. All Indians ensure that photography is not taken whenever possible. On the way out of the main ghat, I was caught by the hand with a request to show the last frames: they say, we saw how you just filmed (in fact, they didn’t see anything, they just decided that if you had a camera, that meant you were filming). With cheerful exclamations: “Nice! Garbage! Let’s shed!” We quickened our pace through the narrow streets of Varanasi. None of his compatriots responded to the call of the vigilant Indian to punish the strays.
14. At the same time, from three to six bodies burn at each of the two ghats. The procedure is completely ordinary, although it attracts a crowd of onlookers - both Indians and foreigners.
15. Of course, the attitude of Indians towards funeral matters is also encouraging. The processions with the corpse go straight through the streets of the city to the ghats, they are easily distinguishable by a) the body carried on a stretcher, b) a large number rejoicing people. They beat the drums, dance and party as if India had just won another cricket match.
16. On my first visit here, I had a wonderful boatman who took us along the Ganges. Parking near the shore, he hit his stern against the head of someone's corpse lying in the water. Another one was burning in the fire nearby. Burnt legs stuck out among the firewood on one side, and the head was smoldering on the other.
17. And again, five meters from me and this “crematorium on the water,” a group of Indians performs dashing dances. And it seems that just a little more - and the holiday of Ivan Kupala will come, they will find a fern and begin jumping over this fire.
19. And there are those who themselves or their poor relatives are not able to find money for firewood. And then the corpse is thrown into the Ganga just like that.
20. It will land on its banks a little further downstream. Will become food for stray dogs.
21. Striped embankments of Varanasi.
22. Many locals walk along the embankment with the inexhaustible task of “who else to burn.” As soon as they see the ownerless body, they begin to disturb it and look into its pupils. The body wakes up. “Alive! Put her in a swing…” - the Indians lament.
23.27. And in the depths of the streets, in the twilight, and in such open-air eateries, where grimy guys will sit you with your tray in the very center of the table, they will start asking something about Russia, and, as usual, their knowledge will be limited to the name Vladimir Putin, and the cook will then put the additives right for you with my own hand, and it is unknown what he did with it before. Eating in India is always a minefield.
28. In that same beautiful book with pages rustling in the wind, it is also written that in India everyone has long ago entered the astral plane. You rarely see anyone on the street, and even those Japanese tourists. Now the Indians are engaged in the astral transfer of cows. By the World Cup in Russia, the transfer of cows to the astral plane was promised to be completely completed.
32. And yet Varanasi is a fabulous city. A city with a face. And it doesn’t even matter that the entire first day of the New Year it rained incessantly and all the sewerage and water supply died out, and it blew uncontrollably through the window. We have nothing to look at. If only the Varanasi funeral business would live and prosper.
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