Varanasi

Varanasi

If I had to define the most exciting and touching moments of the trip, I would definitely choose the feeling of being close to the tiger, which was just yesterday, and the experience this morning of breathing in… the sunrise over the Ganges in Varanasi.

This place must have something truly special and profound, just barely perceptible. It seems to be the place where life and something beyond it meet. This "something" is not just death; it's a supreme dimension that transcends religious beliefs and philosophical ideologies.

When, shortly after 6 am, the city is still quiet, the riverbanks begin to see some pilgrims. Perhaps this is the perfect time to connect with oneself and with the meaning that Varanasi and its Ganges offer We certainly aren't the only ones; other people are experiencing this too, quietly, with barely any disturbance from the persistent vendors who seem to have appeared specifically to ensure we don't miss their presence. We board a small boat pulled by an elderly man (who could be in his 40s) who doesn't seem to have much strength, but will take us to see all the ghats from the river's perspective. Floating candles on the liquid surface, which at this moment seems almost oily. In some sections there are remnants of flower crowns, foam, while in others the water appears clean; I dip my hand and with surprise discover that it is lukewarm. take a relaxing bath and there are already several faithful people inside up to the waist and beyond. We are in one of the oldest cities in the world, a focal point for the spirit of over a billion people. The river has a dark tone., seems like oil, for turn red As I gradually wake up from my sleep, the new day is dawning on the coast. The bells are ringing., the fiery sphere rises towards the sky and transforms the surface into a red square, while the boats seem like shadows without depth. In the one and a half hours it takes to make the circuit, the ghats gradually become more crowded and the funeral pyres began to bring smoke and souls upwards.

Visit to Vishwanath Temple

The spell ends when we touch down and head out to do a walk through the narrow streets of old Varanasi, where stands out the Vishwanath Temple; we don't enter because it is literally militarized, the security checks are insane and you have to leave your belongings in custody. This is justified by the tensions that have involved it in recent times, although in reality the temple has a troubled history even before Akbar (the Mughal emperor, therefore Muslim) rebuilt it as an Hindu place of worship. It was destroyed by one of his successors to turn it into a mosque and rebuilt at the end of the 18th century next to the mosque itself. Recently, there have been talks about demolishing the mosque because the intransigent Hindu faction (which is part of the government) believes that it should be an exclusively Hindu area. This has triggered the anger of the numerous Muslim community and from here the risk of attacks increases.

We finish the tour by navigating through arriving worshippers, disabled beggars who literally crawl along the street, and various vendors.

It's time to return to the hotel for breakfast, which will be followed by a visit to another couple of Hindu temples. Shree Vishwanath Temple and the Mother India Temple); the latter has a beautiful a relief map of India providing information on where we have been and where we might go next: destinations and ideas are plentiful. In the meantime, feeling that we still need to add some more details, we decide to… spiced tea served by a friendly bartender with whom I could easily communicate, despite not sharing a common language.

Visit to the Thai Temple

Varanasi is also known as the City of Gods, and this is evident in the presence of another important site for Buddhists, located in Sarnath, a few kilometers from Varanasi. Here, Buddha gave his first sermon, and there are several monuments dedicated to him. Unfortunately, it starts to rain, but we don't give up on our tour. First, we go to Thai Temple where an enormous Buddha statue stands, reflected in a pond with lotus flowers, as well as a beautiful temple made of sandstone. We use the same system for purchasing tickets online at the counter to visit the Dhamekh Stupa and the ruins of the monastery. In a peaceful and lush green environment, you'll find this stupa, which is 34 meters high, marking exactly the spot where the first sermon was held – when he first taught the dharma. At the moment, there’s a group of Eastern worshippers (not among the many pilgrims here) who are visiting it multiple times. the tour in a strict clockwise direction; something we also do, but only once. The stupa was destroyed by the Arab invasions and rediscovered during the colonial period, restoring it to its rightful place of honor. It is also characterized by three columns, one of which was even carved during the time of Ashoka, about 2300 years ago.

It's 3:30 PM, as planned, we are going to have a combined lunch/dinner, since we won't have time for one this evening. We will therefore go to... modern airport of Varanasi We will depart from here at 9:45 PM to arrive in Delhi at 11:15 PM with an IndiGo flight.

Waiting for us was Kahn again, who, after driving us from Jaisalmer and welcoming us upon our arrival in Delhi, safely guided us through the streets of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. Yesterday he left for Delhi and returned this morning, taking a short break before we were all together again. During this time, a relationship developed that went beyond the typical guide/driver and client/tourist dynamic; we got to know each other, and in these evenings we will be staying at his home, where he has two guest rooms and runs a B&B with his wife.

When we arrive, we realize that the day has been full of excitement and we can go to bed before our visit to Delhi.