Today I started the day with a boat trip on the river Ganges, first going upriver along the various Ghats. Arriving at my destination, Assi Ghat, the last Ghat, I went to watch the Subah-e-Banaras, which takes place every day before sunrise with a ritual of lights, with fire lamps and incense, singing Vedic chants and ringing bells.
On the way back by boat, they even fed some birds that migrate at this time of year from Siberia to the river Ganges to escape the cold, I watched the sun rise from the boat and we also passed in front of Manikarnika Ghat, which is a more secluded place where the bodies of the dead are cremated.
After getting back on dry land, I went down the rest of the river on foot along the banks to the first Ghat. I came across Dashashwamedh Ghat straight away, which is the main Ghat where they hold the ceremonies at sunset and where I could see people washing in the river, washing clothes, filling big jugs with water to take home and brushing their teeth with wooden sticks.
Then I saw the Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple, which sits on the riverbank half sunken and tilted, which is a sacred kund, a small well of water, which serves as a sacred fire altar in rituals to offer ghee, grains and herbs to the fire, purify the surroundings, invoke divine blessings and lift the spirit.
I saw young people playing cricket and hitting the ball into the river, and the tanks that are filled with water from the river Ganges, which after being “purified” is distributed around the city.
I carried on beyond the Malviya bridge, which connects the 2 banks of the river Ganges, a much calmer area, recently renovated and away from the crowds of the other Ghats. There is Namo Ghat, which has enormous sculptures of hands in prayer raised to the sky.
I stopped there at Café Nirvana, facing the river, to have a tea and something to eat, but among a dozen staff members not one spoke English. I ended up saying “yum yum” to them and went to sit down, to see what they’d bring, but it went well, they brought a kind of sandwich with egg, vegetables and cheese, it tasted so good I asked for another, I’m not very fussy when it comes to food either.
Then I continued on to my planned destination, the 1st Ghat of Varuna Sangama, but it wasn’t possible to get there following the river. This first Ghat of Varuna and the last one, Assi Ghat, are the ones that gave the city of Varanasi its name.
In the late afternoon I went to watch the Ganga Aarti ceremony in honour of the river Ganges at Dashashwamedh Ghat and then ended my day at the Brown Bread Bakery having a tea and a chocolate cake while listening to Indian music played live.