Born in
Benares
----revisited 2014
Proud and
privileged I feel to be born in the holy city of Benares. I have stayed there
but it is as good as not staying because I had not come to terms with my senses
during that period. So when my wife proposed that we pay a short visit to
Benares during the summer of 2014 I was excited. Excited to visit a city which
carries a highly inspiringly vivacious introduction in Lonely Planet – “Brace
yourself. You are about to enter one of the most blindingly colourful,
unrelentingly chaotic and unapologetically indiscreet places on earth. Varanasi
takes no prisoners. But if you are ready for it, this may just turn out to be
your favourite stops at all". Benaras is also known as Kashi, ‘the abode of Lord
Shiva, the Hindu God’, or Varanasi nowadays. It is about 600 km from Calcutta
and involves a comfortable overnight train journey. We stayed in Hotel Surya in
the Cantonment area, which is relatively peaceful retreat and located behind
Benares station. The hotel itself is a treat to watch and stay, as it was
earlier the palace of Maharajah of Nepal, with its entire heritage intact. We
had hired a car from Hotel’s travel desk to see places of interest around
Benares. Our co-passenger was a retired Marine Engineer Sanjeev, now settled in
Australia and a travel bug like us. An interesting character with passion for
drama and music. Apart from common interest like sightseeing his specific
interest was to buy some books of Gulshan Nanda, his favourite author. Based on
his stories many classic Bollywood movies were made in the sixties. We first
visited Sarnath where Gautama Buddha delivered his first sermon to his
disciples. Later Emperor Ashoka built a stupa there in 234 BC. Excavation still
continues today on this vast sprawling area, where several structures between 3rd
century BC to 11th century AD are seen scattered as ruins. From
there we drove down to Ramnagar Fort. This is located on the bank of River Gangs rank opposite the famous Ghats of Benares. One has to cross the century
old Malavya Bridge to reach there. This bridge over river Ganga is a famous
landmark of Benares. Ramnagar palace was built in 1750 AD and was the residence
of Kashi Naresh (Maharajah of Benares). The palace houses a museum where some
very interesting exhibits dating back to eighteenth and nineteenth century are
on display – like palanquins, royal palkis, vintage cars, costumes, swords,
sabres, guns etc. Before proceeding to Chunar we had lassi in earthen pot
(Kulhar) for which Benares is so famous. Like Ramnagar Palace Fort, Chunar Fort
also overlooks the Ganga and located strategically on its bank. This fort which
stands on a hillock was built in early 11th century. It was in the
possession of the Mughals for almost two hundred years. In 1772 East India
Company captured the fort and established a depot of artillery and ammunition.
Warren Hastings is said to
have taken a liking for the place and had started staying there. It has now
been converted to a Guest House. At present these barracks in the Fort are used
by the Provincial Armed Core (PAC) as their training establishment. While
returning we asked our driver to take a shorter route by crossing over to the
opposite bank over a pontoon bridge laid on the river for lighter vehicles. A
strange feeling as our car literally crawled on the vast water of Ganga. From there
we proceeded to BHU, perhaps the oldest residential University founded by Pundit
Madan Mohan Malavya in the beginning of twentieth century. Sprawling campus
beautifully maintained is like a town by itself. Before dusk set in we were
in original Benares, at Godhulia more (junction). This is a place where the
human race from our entire planet seems to have descended. The junction
fluttered like an international maypole. We inched our way through a snarl of
traffic and then jostled with the crowd as we headed towards the famous
Dashaswamedh Ghat for watching the Ganga Arati.On our way we passed brightly
lit up shops, hotels, Paan shops and eateries. Labyrinth of narrow streets and
alleyways led off from our main path. They
lead to Viswanath Temple and also connected to other Ghats.
Although
Viswanath Temple is accessible from several points at Godhulia, we always used
the main Gate approach which lead straight to the temple to avoid getting lost.
This alley is flanked by shops selling famous wooden toys of Benares, brass
utensils, artificial jeweleries etc. They glittered with lights and activities
even at odd hours like three in the morning.However one has the choice of using
from an amazing maze of narrow alleys (Galis) crisscrossing each other and
leading to the temple door. But I must warn you that some of them are
infinitesimally narrow and similar to ‘Bhulbhulaya’, the labyrinthian corridors
of Bada Imambara at Lucknow, built for the Nawabs and Begums to play hide and
seek. At the temple we offered pujas smoothly and peacefully without the ires of
jostling,pushing and shoving normally experienced with such swelling crowds of
pilgrims all throughout day and night. Thanks to the temple authorities for
their excellent crowd management
Outside on our way to Dasaswamedh Ghat
the air was heavy with the tempting whiffs of freshly fried kachoris and
jalebis for which Benares is famous.
Ganga Arati on Dasaswamedh Ghat.A lifetime experience. When it started an effervescence of spirit built up inside
us. The chanting of hymn, pulsation of
drums, cymbals, blowing of conches, the sweet smell of incense and the water of
Ganga sparkling with floating diyas produced a wonderful feeling. Mingled with
it the rattling noise and whistle of a train as it passes over the Malavya
Bridge, mike blaring political speech of a party’s election campaign meet, the
chattering and laughter of crowd milling around on the steps and in the boats
created a strange symphony reminding of Neil Diamond’s famous song “It’s a
beautiful noise coming out from the street, like a symphony parade…”. We were
so enthralled that we attended the Ganga Arati (in the morning from Tulsi Ghat
and in the evening from Dashaswamedh Ghat) everyday of our stay there.
We were
amazed to find that this oldest living city in the world never sleeps. When we
decided to go to Viswanath temple early in the morning to offer Puja and also
see the sunrise and morning Prayer at Kedar Ghat we found a sizable movement of
people and vehicles. When we went to Tulsi Ghat we caught glimpses of wrestlers
exercising and preparing for training at Akhadas (wrestling pits). Regarded as
an elixir of life from its early inception this wonderful and highly disciplined sport has come to stay
in this city since ages, even before ‘kushti’ (modern wrestling) was brought in to this city and northern India
by the first Mughal Emperor Babar in the sixteenth century. Emperor Babar, who
was of Mongol descent, was himself a great wrestler. We also attended the Arati at Sankat Mochan
Temple where we recited the Hanuman Chalisa from booklets available to all.
Whether it is the gong of a temple bell or chanting of mantras the noise is
sure to reverberate in every part of your body, and you will get carried away
to sheer pleasure in this holy city.
|
Stupa built by Emperor Ashoka at Sarnath. Gautam Buddha delivered his first sermon at this spot |
|
Excavated ruins at Sarnath |
|
Ramnagar Palace & Fort |
|
A view of Ganga from Ramnagar Palace |
|
Chunar Fort |
|
A view of the Chunar Fort from Ganga |
|
Crossing the Pontoon Bridge from Chunar |
|
Statue of Madan Mohan Malavya, founder of Benaras Hindu University. Behind is the entrance to BHU |
|
BHU Campus |
|
Godhulia More |
|
Ganga Arati at Dasaswamedh Ghat |
|
A short video clip of the Arati |
|
Sunrise |
|
Morning Prayer at Kedar Ghat |
|
A Gali in Benaras |
|
Lassi shop in Benaras |
Comments