Marek A long, long time ago, beyond the seven mountains, beyond the seven forests, Lord Shiva, the most important of the triumvirate of Hindu gods, gave people a very important message. If you are cremated after death on the bank of the Ganges, in a place called Varanasi, you will complete the process of reincarnation and immediately achieve nirvana (you will go to the paradise of the Hindu religion).
The prospect of an immediate end to the entire rebirth process is very tempting. Reincarnation is a natural cycle of human life, but it entails certain risks. The next life does not have to be easy or pleasant. You can be reborn as an insect, an animal, or a member of a low caste. And so on forever, until your consciousness reaches perfection. And this may never happen.
Therefore, many pious people take Shiva’s declaration at face value, giving appropriate instructions to their relatives during their lifetime. The more prudent ones, when they reach the right age, come to Varanasi to wait there for the Right Moment.
As you can guess, you can feel a specific atmosphere in the town of Varanasi. An atmosphere of spirituality and anticipation. Travelers who come here quite quickly feel the prevailing atmosphere. They love it or hate it. They are divided into those who want to stay here as long as possible and those who want to run away as far as possible as soon as possible. We shared these feelings in half.
Cremations take place in several places on the banks of the Ganges, where large bonfires are lit around the clock. Before the ceremony begins, the body is immersed in the river, which symbolizes the last bath in the sacred waters, after its completion, the ashes are thrown into the water. The whole thing takes about 5 hours.
You can come here at any time of the day or night and feel the atmosphere. If you don’t take out your camera, camcorder, or start taking photos (which brings bad karma) with your phone, you will always be welcome. You can also walk around the city, visiting the numerous temples, observing the slow life going on. In the evening, be sure to take part in a several-hour Ganga Puja ceremony (a religious ceremony of worshiping the waters of the Ganges). And at dawn, from the deck of the boat, you will see crowds of people performing ceremonial cleansing in the waters of the river. Nobody here cares about its cleanliness. Faith guarantees health despite chemical and biological contamination.
We arrived in Varanasi by a direct flight from Delhi. This is the most comfortable way to travel, somehow we don’t have the courage to use the train. It is more convenient and safer. Which doesn’t mean that something unpleasant can’t happen to you at the airport. A rat jumps out from under the belt on which the luggage is leaving and attacks my leg. Fortunately, there is no bloodshed. It would be a shame to waste time looking for a place where you could get vaccinated against rabies. If it would be possible here in Varanasi at all.
And now, sitting over a potato sandwich (a local specialty), we wonder what to do next. Maybe Nepal?
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