Yesterday, after checking temple number 19 and 20 off our list, Jane expressed that she is just about templed out. I hope she is feeling refreshed this day because we were on our way to a Buddhist shrine.
We awoke at a good time (4:30 a.m.) to get to the Ganges River and take a boat tour. The steps that lead to the Ganges River are called Ghats, and each set of ghats has a different name. There are many sets of steps that lead to the Ganges, but only four of them are considered sacred. Pilgrims often walk barefoot to the Ganges River and take the water from the river to a temple somewhere else in Varanasi. They offer the water of the Ganges to the Lord Shiva, one of the main gods in the Hindu religion. Pilgrims also bathe in the water of the Ganges, and drink from the river five times. For the four of us, that is a practice that we don’t want to do.
On our boat tour, we were able to see the two spots where Hindu cremations take place. A cremation is very ceremonial. After they have covered the body in oils, and carried it to the Ganges river, they create a funeral pyre out of wood. You can buy the wood at shops on the river for Rs. 3 per kg for wood that is not covered, or for Rs. 6 per kg for dry wood. The dry wood burns the body in a couple of hours and wood that is mostly wet takes 6-8 hours. Only men are allowed at the ghats to burn the body because women are too sentimental. The soul is supposed to leave the body during cremation, and if women are crying and carrying on, the soul might stay behind, which is not good for the dead person. So, women stay home during that part of the ceremony. After the body is completely burned, the ashes are gathered up and taken back to the home. After 11 more days, the eldest son, he who was also responsible for lighting the funeral pyre, will bring half the ashes back to the Ganges and sprinkle them into the river.
We walked around the streets near the river for a little while and saw a Hindu temple, whose domed roof was covered completely in gold. I think our guide told us that 800 kg of gold was used to cover it. Let’s see – $1000 USD per ounce, 28g in an ounce, 1000g in a kg…… I think that works out to around $28 000 000 USD at today’s rate. Or something like that.
After visiting the Ganges River region, we went to a Buddhist shrine, which was more interesting that we originally thought it would be. I mentioned that Jane was templed out. We learned a few things about Buddhism that we didn’t already know. This might have a slant/bias of an Indian guide, but we learned that Buddhism has a home in India. Sarvath (I forget the actual name of the town) is a town where Buddha visited to do his first sermon. Wow. You never know what you are going to find in India.
I am running out of internet time, so I will end this with these events:
We spent the afternoon drinking wine and beer by the poolside, had a nice dinner at the restaurant at the hotel, and fell asleep thinking about going back to Delhi the next day. Wow, a half hour of internet time goes quickly!!! I have to get going now!
