Sunday, October 30 – The Last Day at Varanasi the Cremation Grounds
Today, we hopped on two flights to spend 1 night in Varanasi. When we checked in, I simply asked, Could we be upgraded to First Class? He looked at us and said, sure, no problem, we will issue your new boarding passes at the gate. Wow, that’s it?! We were happy, even though the flights were an hour each. (We even got hot meals). American carriers should learn something from the Indians.
When we arrived in Varanasi, our hotel was a moderate hotel. We were actually thrilled to be in a hotel that was not so lavish at this point. It was almost refreshing. Our tour guide was to pick us up and bring us on a boat trip on the Ganges River, the most holy highest respected place in all of India. This is where bodies are cremated and are given to the Ganges River. As the sun started to set, we walked down to the Ganges. We saw hundreds of people on the steps by the river. Everyone from tourists, to Buddhists, to interesting looking-types of people. Everyone paying homage to this river and its holy waters. As we arrived at our large wooden boat, a boy sold us two floating candles that were to be set out on the river as a prayer offering. There was a chill in the air, it was cloudy and there was a sense of emptiness between Josh and myself. We were intrigued by everything and were shocked by what we were about to see.
As the thin young boy hopped into this large boat with Josh, myself, and our local guide, he rowed this huge boat all by himself. It was pretty impressive. Where I come from, if a boy rows at the gym for 23 minutes, muscles pop, hmmm… I guess it’s their diet 😉
We rowed for about 15 minutes as we heard stories of the Ganges. Indians and others from all over the country and the world are carried to the Ganges to be cremated after their death. It’s the only place in the world where cremations happen 24 hours a day. The son of the deceased shaves his head in respect and carries the body to one of 8 fires that are burning bright, just adjacent to the river. As we got closer, my eyes swelled up and all emotions escaped me. I didn’t know what to think. We saw 4 other bodies literally draped on the stairs next to the fires waiting for their turn with their families nearby. It became too much for me when I saw one of the men working on the ceremony take a large pair of tongs and place a charred foot to the top of the fire. I was overcome with emotion. Wild dogs and cows ran through the areas around the pits. We spotted two American tourists walking right through the grounds, as if it were a thrill for them . We watched a bit longer as all of the other boats with tourists watched this ceremony that seemed so archaic, so down to earth, and almost natural? I was confused with thoughts—was this the right way to do it? Was this respectful? As we pulled away Josh and myself were simply stunned. We felt void, we didn’t know if we should cry or think, or do anything. We just kept our heads down and tried to process what we just saw.
We then decided to light our candles. As our tour guide chanted a beautiful Indian prayer, we set our candles out on the river. They remained together flowing down the river as one, until they were out of sight, something that our tour guide says he has never seen. Two candles sticking by each other’s side on the Ganges. We suddenly felt welcome as we had given an article and our prayers to the Ganges.The next morning, we went back to the Ganges River at dawn to see the prayer rituals. Women and men bathed and poured the holy waters into their mouths. Women smiled, men danced and laughed. A very different vibe than the night before. We were happy to have gone back to the river. Wow, the Ganges, so hard to explain this experience. Everyone must go, it opened up a new though process within me that I respect and appreciate.
The next day, we headed to Delhi for our flight back to New York. This beautiful country, filled with colorful experiences and fantastic people, treated us to so much. I am grateful to have been able to go to India. I feel as if it my mission to bring people to this far away land and to show them this astronomical experience. It will touch you, it will heal you, it will round you. One does not simply come to India, India calls you.