The Holy Ganga
Trip Start
Aug 16, 2005
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20
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Trip End
Nov 10, 2006
Varanassi, India
Saturday, November 26, 2005
This experience will be one of the most memorable of the trip. We took a river cruise on the Ganges past all the ghats and it was intense, to say the least. The Ganges is one of the most polluted rivers in the world. However, there are hundreds of Indian men and women and kids bathing, doing their laundry, swimming and of course brushing their teeth. OK - so they don't have anywhere else to do it - makes sense. The common cows leave their waste in the river and the sewers of the entire city 1.3 million people exit next to the ghats. There is a misty aura around the holy river so maybe they get super clean. Of course the mist is air pollution and because the river is holy - holy acts must takes place.
For Varanasi, one of the most religious sites for Hindus, the holy acts include disposing of the dead. Babies, fetuses, and holy men are weighed down with rocks and dumped into the river. Everyone else is burned on the river side. And this is not a once a month occurrence. We went past two pyre sites. One does about 5 bodies per day and the other is a 24hour pyre which means about 15-20 people are cremated on the riverside everyday. We had the experience of watching this. I'm not even sure if i have seen a dead body before today and now i have seen the burning of human flesh (of course in ceremonial practice). This wasn't traumatic the way i thought it would be. It was illuminating. just another example of how India is deeply intertwined with religion. The families were there and the bodies waiting to be burned are wrapped in cotton cloth and have bright orange flower wreaths wrapped around them. However, the burning man's face was as clear to make out as anyone you might pass on the street. Death is part of life here and it appears to be accepted (of course with ritual) as an everyday - and every hour - experience in Varanasi.
However, mental anguish did accompany the boat trip. Not every situation works perfectly in India - actually most do not. So... some of the bodies that are weighed down escape the clutches of their weights and rise to the surface of the river. Of course the ones that are the lightest more often come up: which means babies. And as animals are a distinct part of this country they belong at the side of the ganga too. So... what I'm saying is we were witness to a small baby at the side of the river. It had been found by stray dogs who had proceeded to remove its head and its body was a bluish grey with red patches from its death and subsequent time in the river. Our boat driver was kind enough to point out this sight for us to really experience the river. He also assured us the child would be weighed down again to spend the rest of its decomposition in the river.
All in all: i won't forget Varanasi EVER even though i only had one day here. And i may need to study Hinduism and the history of the Ganga a bit more in order to avoid nightmares for the rest of the trip. But a great culture shock and an intriguing travel story.
