DAY 181 - BENARES

181) SUNDAY, 25 DECEMBER 1977 : 0KMS. - BENARES

 

The morning of Christmas day ! 
 

The time to explore VARANASI has come. We took a ride on  a tricycle to the banks of the Ganges river at Dasaswamedh Ghat . There were beggars sitting aside the road to the waterfront. People of all ages came to take a bath in the Ganges river.  On the river bank,  Brahmins  were sitting under a big umbrella to perform rituals  or enchant sacred words to those who came to bathe in the Ganges river. 

Manikarnika Ghat - Photo : BEN BEISKE - flickr (goindia.about.com) / Google images search

We rented a barge cruising down the river, passing various  ghats of different  castes. These people will not share their ghats with people of lower castes.  We arrived at  the ghat pier , where  a cremation was taking place with the smoke billowing up. There were a lot of firewood piles on the ground and  flocks  of crows and vultures flying  high above in the sky.

Morning bath in the Ganges river -  http://munichtomadras1977.blogspot.com

 
 

As we saw on different bathing ghats,  Indian people did not feel ashamed or embarrassed wearing very thin clothes, men and women, that were almost see-through when they were wet.  Some men wore loinclothes, called a Langota - a white or brightly colored and patterned  triangle shape cloth  with a cord  tied around their waists (wearing normally as underwear). I did not noticed anything  but  could not help it, if I saw something  unintentionally. Some women also released their saris, diving bare chest into the river but I did not see anyone staring at them. The men did not need to be careful when they changed their clothes, some even did not mind to show their bottoms of the jet black skin!

VARANASI Street - Photo : sitemaker.umich.edu / Google images search

I saw some of the dirt in the Ganges river like fizzy water, ceremony flowers strewn  or ashes floating along the river.  

From the Ganges, we took a tricycle to see the city, crowded with lots of tricycles and bikes but less cars. Besides, there were also cows generally walking  into lanes of smaller niches and  littering their dung on city streets.