Just a Taste of Varanasi

Touted by India as the oldest living city in the world, Varanasi - or Benares - is undoubtably a special place that attracts tourists and pilgrims from all walks of life.  Around 2.5 million people visit Varanasi each year and while it is by no means one of India's largest cities (with a mere 1.2 million population in the city proper, compared to Mumbai and Delhi whose populations hover closer to 20 million give or take a few), it continues to be a place of great importance and interest.  This is probably due, in part, to its spiritual significance. Varanasi boasts numerous mythological histories, for example one legend tells that Lord Shiva and his wife, Parvati, walked to this spot at the beginning of time.  Some may call Varanasi the city of Shiva, which seems so as you walk along the Ganga past countless Shiva Linga stones.  Another Hindu legend holds that anyone who is cremated here will be released from samsara (the cycle of death and rebirth), attaining enlightenment.  This is one tradition of Varanasi known better in the U.S., though often with a negative undertone.  Before I moved here, upon telling people where I was going, I would often get the response of, "Isn't that where you can see parts of dead bodies floating down the river?" Note: I have never once seen a limb floating down the Ganga... so it's not like zombie-film status; though I've been told that some with limited funds will weight bodies to be partially burned and then sunk to the bottom of the river.

One of my favorite things about Varanasi, as compared to some other popular destinations in India and across the world, is the entanglement of tradition and tourism.  It seems accepted that many cities popular with tourists have "tourist areas," like San Francisco's Fisherman's Warf or Mumbai's Colaba and Bandra neighborhoods; while those parts of the city where true inhabitants go about their lives unbothered by hoards out-of-towners - DSLRs in hand - fly under the mainstream tourist radar.  Varanasi unapologetically and magically melds these two together on the ghats of the Ganga.  Here tourists from India and abroad walk up and down the steps, navigating between laundry, herds of buffalo, tethered goats and more.  Many homes in the gullies along the Ganga have belonged to families here for generations and so the everyday rituals like regular bathing, laundry and animal husbandry continue to take place amidst the tourism.  While in many other cities these people may have abandoned the tourist hotspot, Varanasi commands reverence for its character, history and seemingly authentic daily life. 

Here I am standing in Assi Ghat just a few steps away from the guest house I stayed at in 2013 when I first came to Varanasi with SIT: Jaipur study abroad group. If you ever travel to India, skip the big hotels and go for guesthouses. Usually run by families, if you do enough background research you can find some real gems. Our favorite here in Varanasi is Sahi River View Guest House with cheap, clean and comfy rooms it even comes with free breakfast! Not to mention a wonderfully hospitable familial staff. 

Water buffalo are a mainstay along the ghats, at one time a herd began to stampede down the main street in Assi Ghat, one of the most touristy areas, giving us all quite a scare.  Here they cool off and clean up in the Ganga.  Buffalo are kept throughout North India (having not been farther south I cannot speak to other regions) and I actually prefer their milk to cow's milk - it is sweeter, creamier and a bit more flavorful!

Along the ghats you can also see a handful of boats in various stages of construction, meaning more and more boats to have boat drivers relentlessly ask, "Boat madam? You want boat?" as I walk along the river.