holymoly varanasi

orange really brings out my beard

sunrise laundromat, next please

nice sunrise but how about some grass

bustling riverside of varanasi

our captain nemo of the ganges

emil says:
varanasi is widely considered to be india's holiest city. hindu pilgrims from all over the world come to the riverbanks of the ganges to breathe, pray, meditate, and die. and you can see all these things occurring all at once and at nearly all hours of the day and night.  dead bodies wrapped in beautiful gold saris are laid at the waters edge for purification, in a sort of queue, before being cremated in several designated spots. alongside which children can be seen bathing, clothes being washed, water buffalo swimming, rabid dogs doing their thing, restaurants washing their dishes all within feet of one another.  its a place to be alive and to be dead.  the cremations run continuously, often times 10+ at a time, and by continuously they mean 3,500 years of continuousness. nightly there are prayer ceremonies at the river's edge that thousands passionately attend, with live music that no yoga class can mimick. its surely one of the most holy and intensely unique places i have ever seen. it is also most surely one of the most viciously uncomfortabe places i have seen.  for a place so holy it is mired in so much trash as to be nearly ungodly in my eyes. this is a truly difficult place to describe. maddeningly poor, extremely spiritual, and arrestingly genuine but its not for the faint of heart.  another shout out to the ever-fabulous laurel for getting through the past few harrowing days which saw her be chased by a water buffalo (note: don't wear red sarongs around bulls), chased by a homeless woman (no does not mean no to much of the india's impoverished), grabbed at by numerous pesky folk, as well as her seeing numerous limbs aflame at her feet.

the site of multiple cremations

stop...hammertime!

do you guys see my laundry anywhere?

garbage disposal unit

i pray for a cleaner river

a moment of peace at sunrise

namaste

laurel says:
“varanasi is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together" -mark twain
"filthy.  putrid.  repulsive.  with a dash of ancient and holy" -laurel wolmut
so i know these are not the standard words one would use to describe a holy city, but as the expression goes that we learned from some locals- "tii...this is india."  varanasi is a city blanketed in garbage, coated in cow poo and occupied by feral dogs and monkeys and alas it still remains the holiest city in the country.  i guess for a city that is supposed to be so sacred, i was expecting slightly higher sanitation standards!  for me the complete environmental devastation took away immensely from the spirituality of varanassi.   to my western eyes i find it challenging to comprehend the ganges river as a place of purity and rebirth and then sit by and watch the garbage pile up.  people bathe, cool their herds of water buffalo, drink, wash their clothes and cremate their loved ones all in the same water.  but this has been going on for thousands of years in varanasi.  the level of hindu devotion and passion here is a remarkable and wonderful sight.  and while i did enjoy cruising the ganges river and taking in the evening prayer ceremonies (attended nightly by thousands) i can't wait to get the hell out of dodge.  on to nepal...

site of evening prayers

traffic on the ganges

got toilet paper?