There is a place in India where all the fervent Hinduism devotees go to in the last stage of their lives. That place is called Benares, Varanasi in Sanskrit, and is one of the seven sacred Hinduists cities.
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| Benares, India |
Benares is in the confluence of the rivers Varuna and Asi, at the shores of the sacred river Ganges. There, at one of the seven sacred cities of Hinduism in India, hundreds of sadhus, ill and aged people who are in their final days pilgrim in the same direction do do their last prayers and ablutions in the sacred waters of Mother Ganga, between buffalos, fishermen, women doing the laundry and children playing and laughing happyly while they bathe in the river, apparently without noticing what is happening around them.
The most ancient city in IndiaBenares is the most ancient city in India and presumes to be one of the ancentral cities of the world. There have also been some speculations that point to the water of the Ganges, one of the most contaminated rivers and less appropiate for human use, as one of the possible origins of the mad cow disease. Actually, in the other side of the water, deep inside, there are hundreds of death bodies that are deposited in the river every day from the city's main crematories.
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| Manikarnika ghat @ Benares |
Lotus offerings through the Ganges
Benares is a magical city during the night, when tons of little lotus offerings with floating candels slide softly through the water of the Ganges and are carried away by the flow of the sacred river, meanwhile the priests celebrate rituals in honour of Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, and the sound of sacred chants and mystical offerings of fire. At daytime, the panorama becomes overwhelming, when the spectacular sunrise over the Ganges reveals the real meaning of the fires, and transforms them into authentic funerary pyres, where you can still gaze at some of the bodies burning since the previous night.
City of life, city of death
No other city in the world lives, each day, so close to death. Neither does it seem possible for a human being to resist the awesome vision of walking through tiny lanes full of dead bodies, while the strength of something real called life, continues on its way, with even more intensity than ever, on the other side of the same road customized in the forms of silk merchants, autorickshaw drivers and all kind of food stalls that sell local specialities like samosas, thalis, chapattis and paneer. The mixture of smells is undescribable.
In Benares, the intensity of all that you have seen , smelled, heard, touched and tasted in India reaches to its maximum, not knowing exactly if it is due to the extreme heat that envolves the city during the month of August -where temperatures can easily rise over 40ºC- or because the five senses of the body are more sensible than ever, and any detail is capable of putting the entire nervous system in alert.
Pilgrimage through the Ganges
6.00am in the morning. A small fishermen boat takes us by the shores of the Ganges through the morning fog and a surreal landscape to which, daily, more than 60.000 devotees reach to do their prayers and ablutions, to purify their minds and bodies and to expiate their sins. In this scenery, between life and death, our guide explains us that an average of 130 bodies are cremated each day, lasting each cremation around 3 hours and with an estimated cost of 3.000 rupees (around 50 US dollars). And all of it under the rules: it is forbidden to take pictures of the cremations, it is allowed to sit in silence and watch the ritual. It is forbidden to cry.
Benares is the city of life and the city of death, the city of light and the city of darkness. India, once again, breaking all the schemes of Occident and taking contradiction to its maximum extent. We leave the city walking along the last funeral procession, transported to the Ganges by the untouchable cast. They accompany the deceased with chants, transporting him to the definite closure of his life cycle and allowing his entrance to eternity, letting his soul free of guilt and able to rest in peace forever.
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| Lotus offering @ river Ganges, Benares |
No other city in the world lives, each day, so close to death. Neither does it seem possible for a human being to resist the awesome vision of walking through tiny lanes full of dead bodies, while the strength of something real called life, continues on its way, with even more intensity than ever, on the other side of the same road customized in the forms of silk merchants, autorickshaw drivers and all kind of food stalls that sell local specialities like samosas, thalis, chapattis and paneer. The mixture of smells is undescribable.
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| Ghat @ Benares, India |
In Benares, the intensity of all that you have seen , smelled, heard, touched and tasted in India reaches to its maximum, not knowing exactly if it is due to the extreme heat that envolves the city during the month of August -where temperatures can easily rise over 40ºC- or because the five senses of the body are more sensible than ever, and any detail is capable of putting the entire nervous system in alert.
Pilgrimage through the Ganges
6.00am in the morning. A small fishermen boat takes us by the shores of the Ganges through the morning fog and a surreal landscape to which, daily, more than 60.000 devotees reach to do their prayers and ablutions, to purify their minds and bodies and to expiate their sins. In this scenery, between life and death, our guide explains us that an average of 130 bodies are cremated each day, lasting each cremation around 3 hours and with an estimated cost of 3.000 rupees (around 50 US dollars). And all of it under the rules: it is forbidden to take pictures of the cremations, it is allowed to sit in silence and watch the ritual. It is forbidden to cry.
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| Ablutions @ river Ganges, Benares |
Benares is the city of life and the city of death, the city of light and the city of darkness. India, once again, breaking all the schemes of Occident and taking contradiction to its maximum extent. We leave the city walking along the last funeral procession, transported to the Ganges by the untouchable cast. They accompany the deceased with chants, transporting him to the definite closure of his life cycle and allowing his entrance to eternity, letting his soul free of guilt and able to rest in peace forever.
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