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We woke to the sounds of loud voices and slamming doors... all at 4am! Indian families were gathering in their hundreds for the end of Chhath Puja, a four day worship to the Lord Surya. During this time, mainly women fast for the well being of their sons and happiness of their family. The fourth and final day (today), is know as the Usha Arghya- this is where an offering is given to the Sun God, families sit by the river Ganges and sing worship at sunrise. Then, once the sun has risen, the go home and break their 36 hour fast with ginger and water and a family feast! We didn't go to this festival but it does sound like it may have been good to observe.
After handing over our laundry, I'm desperately running out of trousers now, we had breakfast in the hotel. My voice has almost completely gone at this point and I find it hard to communicate sometimes so Matt does most of the talking. It was at this time we met the owner- Dina. He used to work in 5 star hotels and over the years saved enough to start his own. He was very friendly and helpful and was very keen for us to enjoy our stay. The hotel printed us off a map and pointed us in the right direction for the Varanasi Ghats.
I didn't know what a Ghat was before coming here but I have been informed now it is a flight of steps leading to a river. There are 12 main Ghats along the Varanasi river that run in pretty much a straight line, one after the other. Some were beautifully structured and very interesting to look at and some you could easily pass without even realising you had. We walked for miles along the Ganges River edge. The aftermath of this mornings festival was very evident along the majority of the first few Ghats we came to. After that we saw a range of different activities. There were people washing themselves in the Ganges River- which they believe washes away sin. We also stumbled right into the middle of a cricket match played by a group of locals who were very serious about the game. I tried to take a photo by the side of them only to be told very politely to get out of their playing field...Righty-ho! A little further on we came to the Harishchandra Ghat where Hindu cremations take place, sometimes 10-15 a day. A very friendly gentlemen called Delvi came to talk to us about the cremation ceremony. Now, we had been pre warned that many people try to approach you along the Ghats and give you information (like a guide would) but then demand to be paid large amounts. This of course made me wary of Delvi when he started to talk to us, but then he told us he was the son of the owner of the Ghat. He was involved in the organisation of the cremations so he talked us through the ceremony and their beliefs. It was absolutely fascinating to listen to. In summary he told us that the cremation of the body is to aid the release of the soul so it can carry on with its journey, wherever that might be. The oldest son of deceased's family shaves his head, moustache and under arms which is then placed on top of the body before it is burnt as an offering of devotion. Sandalwood is added to improve the flames and gee also for a nicer smell. The body will then burn for three hours while at the family members sit at the side. Delvi was a lovely character and we were glad to have met him.
We carried on along the Ghats, eventually reaching the Dasashwameth Ghat which was very busy and more geared up for tourists with lots of people asking if we wanted boat rides or to buy things from them. We did come across a little stall that was run by three small children, the oldest being 11 years old. She spoke very good English and told me that her parents were sending them all to English lessons. They were really chatty and very sweet so we found a few little items to purchase from them. In amongst it all there were men offering hand massages. We politely declined these but a few yards on, a man would stop and starting chatting to Matt about where we're from and how long we have been in India etc which is perfectly normal and most of the time very genuine. The man would go to shake Matts hand goodbye before diving into a full on hand massage! It happened twice in the space of 20 minutes! Hilarious to watch!!
One thing that has surprised both of us is that there are not as many Westerners here than what we thought there would be. I knew it wouldn't be anything like Thailand but we thought there would be a fair amount of tourists here, especially as its peak season now. I suppose it makes sense when individuals or families want photos with you. There also isn't many excursions for tourists advertised but I suppose that's what we wanted from India, less westernised tourism and more of a real insight to Indian culture and way of life.
Once reaching nearly the end of the Ghats, we walked up the Scindia Ghat to find a lovely little rooftop bar! We sat and caught our breaths after walking for hours in the hot sun. The coolness of the fan over our very sweaty selves was heaven. We decided at this point that we would head back to the hotel. As we were walking we were asked multiple times if we wanted a tuktuk but we were pretty confident we knew where we were going. I have to say, they are very respectful when you decline something. We are always very polite but they don't push. They will always ask-which is fair enough, and then accept your first response pretty much straight away. We were keen to walk the busy streets and soak up the atmosphere so we asked for directions and just kept walking...and walking... and walking... and yet again some more walking until we figured neither we or anyone else really knew where our hotel was. We had given it a bash and had been walking all day, approx for 6 hours so we thought we give in and get a tuktuk back. After arranging a price we were happy with up front with the driver, he also didn't know where our hotel was and proceeded to drive right back through the 2 mile street we just walked from! 15 mins later, we arrived at our hotel. We showered and got ourselves ready for dinner, back at the same restaurant we were in last night. We tried a Paneer Tikka Masala and 3 different types of naan (we got a bit carried away) and didn't quite manage to eat it all, but it was delicious all the same! We did some much needed hand washing (very glad I packed that last min addition) before bed. We had really enjoyed our day of sightseeing in this beautiful spiritual Capital.
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