Meeting the Ganges

I’ll never forget the day I arrived in Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges, a place of pilgrim, rituals and worship for thousands of years. It was slightly surreal to see what had epitomised India in my mind for so long. I headed to the Ghats to soak up the atmosphere and walk along the river banks. I’d arrived just after Kumbh Mela - a huge Hindu festival which only occurs every 12 years, millions of people come to bathe in the river & cleanse themselves of their sins. There were still many holy men camped out along the banks, mostly naked, covered only in ash from the fires, dedicating their time to praying. The Ghats were buzzing with all sorts of people, bathing, selling, praying, and meditating. How people survive bathing in the waters daily is amazing, as the river (and its banks) are polluted and very smelly in places.
Further along I came to one of the 'burning Ghats', where funerals are conducted. The bodies of the dead are wrapped in cloth and bought to the river for their final bath, they are placed on a pile of wood, with more on top & set alight. Apparently the ancient fires have been burning for over 3,000 years. People come to Varanasi to die, so they can be burned on the banks of the sacred river and head directly to the gods. Only men are allowed at the funerals, as women are apparently too emotional and had on occasion in grief tried to throw themselves on the fires with the dead. It is an intense experience and as I got closer I could see the torso of a woman lying in between the piles of wood, as the fire slowly took hold.
That evening I took to the water in a rowing boat, I was paddled as far as the main burning Ghat, where a constant stream of up to 200 bodies are burnt 24 hours daily. Perhaps because of the belief in the afterlife, the funeral goers seem calm & the burnings almost a natural part of life & death. In the opposite direction I stopped again to watch the evening rituals of prayer. The Brahmin waved incense and lights, to a background of gongs and people praying. Crowds watched from the boats on the river whilst children jumped between them selling candles and flowers as offerings to the Gods. I bought a couple of candles and released them into the water so hopefully good Karma will stay with me for a while. By the end of the night, as the boats began to move off, the water was left filled with many little lights in the city where life & death are inexplicably linked.