Varanasi

This ancient city is more chaotic than Delhi. Much of our time here is spent in terror as our tuk tuk drives us from our hotel down to old Varanasi along the Ganges River. We are lucky because there is a festival going on so that many of the activities are special. It is Chatt Puja, a festival honoring the sun. Our tuk tuks drop us off a ways from the river because the city is congested with worshipers bringing offerings to the river. Men and women carry baskets of offerings: coconuts, fruit, milk, chrysanthemums. Many carry the offerings on their heads, wrapped in colorful cloths. As usual, motorcycles, cows, and dogs, as well as a few crazy tourists, are in the mix. Our group can barely stay together in the midst of this

Chime explains to us that this city was designed using Vastra Shaka (Indian Feng Shui) so that temple location is based on the seven chakras and minor temples represent the nadis. She says that many of the smaller temples are no longer there. 

The Ganges is an immense river. There are 90 ghats along the West Bank. Some, maybe all, have a specific purpose. Ghats are steps the descend into the water. During the monsoons, most of the steps are covered by water. Right now, the steps are visible, and you can even walk down to the muddy banks at some locations. 

Two of the ghats are for burning bodies. The incineration goes on day and night, but only those who die naturally can be cremated there. Some bodies are weighted and thrown in the river, although I am confused by what this does to the holy water and how many bodies are decomposing. Bodies must be cremated within 24 hours after death, so no planning can be done. The area around the cremation ghats are piled with wood everywhere, as there is no end to this work. She also said that some yogis hang around the ghats to pick up any stray energy that may be emanating from the bodies. And no women are allowed here. The male relatives must tend to the cremation while the women conduct their own rituals at home.There is no emotion here, as this is just a transition and there are more lives to come.

It is all too much, all of us are overwhelmed by the number of people and the chaos, yet we are fascinated. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world, and this fact can be felt as worshippers place their offering baskets and pour milk into the Ganges. As strange as the activities seem, we feel them deeply as they originate from the beginning of mankind.

Priests at the sunrise ceremony. 

A scene from the boat.

Not sure what is going on here, under a covering a bit before sunrise on the Ganges.

Walking to the Ganges through the crowds

The ancient ones in the river (this is not my photo, but I certainly witnessed this.)


There is more to tell, I think we need a Varanasi Part II, coming soon.

Khajuraho - the Kama Sutra Temples

A view of a temple complex. These temples were built between 930 and 1100. These temples are outstanding even without the erotic images found here and there along the walls. Some of them are quite shocking, and most involve attendants helping the loving couple attain difficult positions.

When you look at the temples from below, you think of spaceships or computer circuitry. there is something uber modern about the design and I wonder if the Art Deco folks ever saw the decorative work on the temples.

A sunrise? Palm tree? Whatever, something very modern about the design.

This snap from below doesn’t begin to show the detailed circuitry at the top of the temple After the figures, which adorn the bottom half, complex patterns decorate the top.

A guard insisted on taking my photo in front of the temple. I had to suck up to some of our group members to ditch him.

See if you can locate the dirty bits.

A closeup of a simple tryst.

Living in a Palace

The big event for the day is living in a palace. Our palace was built in the 1700s by the local Maharaji. The palace has been converted to a hotel. We were given a primo room with tons of space and a bathtub and two balconies.

Looking out at the balcony.

The steps in inner courtyard 


Long view of inner courtyard 

Top floor terrace

We did a short village walk. Alipura is a village of 14,000 and full of people and animals. 



A local potter

Offering  on the stoop of a house on brother and sisters day. The offering is made from dung and there is always a head on top. The sister removes the head which is symbolic for destroying the brother’s enemies.


Cow dung is also mixed with straw and dried for cooking fuel. Here Chime is sniffing the brick to show that it has lost its smell.

Goat in foreground, water buff also in background.

Orchha and Diwali

Orchha is a relatively small village, but it is surrounded by immense Hindu monuments from the 16th and 17th centuries. It is quite otherworldly walking through narrow village streets and seeing these epic structures in the background. 

We are staying at a resort, and there are many higher end hotels here because apparently this is a tourist town. Our itinerary said we would stay in permanent tents. My fantasy was that we would have two giant tents on platforms, and would live communally. This is just not the case, this is probably the nicest room we’ve stayed in with a hot pot, ac, tv, and lovely soft walls. What a surprise!

Our luxe tent is very cozy.

Our tents with monuments in the background.

They even have a spa at this hotel. I booked a service for weight loss/detox (too much naan, puri, chapati, etc.) It was ok. The remarkable thing about it was the complete lack of modesty....felt rather vulnerable, but the massage was okay and I slept very well.

In the evening we went to a local house for dress up in saris, a cooking demonstration, dinner, and Diwali Pooja ceremony.

Our hostess Vandna had a large collection of saris and dressed us all up so that we looked like royalty. 

Peggy getting dressed

Voila



Our group in full regalia

Next came the cooking demonstration. She made poulo (Muslim version is biryani, word comes from pilaf), cauliflower, eggplant, and puri. Absolutely yummy.

Cooking demonstration

Performing rituals at the altar

Finally it was time for the Diwali ritual. The family had a decent-size altar in the corner of their house where the father of the house spent considerable time creating and burning fairly complicated concoctions. They sang a song in Sanskrit. We were allowed to make wishes in the alter by holding a flame and circling it clockwise seven times. Finally came the setting of the lights and fireworks. We went up the the roof where fireworks were all around us and the family set off Roman candles, sparklers, and furry whirligigs. We also set up candles comprised of ceramic dishes filled with mustard oil with a wick made of cotton fiber manually formed into a thread.

Diwali and the celebrations are meant to bring wealth and prosperity to the family. Happy Diwali to all!

Colors for sale at the market. The family creates drawings at the front of their house using these color powders.

We were staying right next to a ghat leading down to the river. There were actually speakers quite close to our tents and music — Diwali music — looped continuously from around 3:00 am until dawn. Unfortunately I awoke during one of the cycles, so listened to the music all night long.

The ghat behind our tents

The holiday was filled with bands of young men carrying peacock feathers. They were visiting the same palace and filled many of the rooms with merriment. Occasionally groups would dance...one group in particular did an entertaining stick dance. The mean are said to be followers of Krishna, who is often depicted with a peacock feather in his hair.

Some resellers with their bunch of peacock feathers.

The cows are also decorated for Diwali. Cows everywhere, but only a few were actually decorated. The first day of diwali is said to be cow day. 

Festive cow.

Chanderi, More Ruins, Dance Performance

The Muslim worship place where Friday service is celebrated.

A niche in the mosque where the Imam’s Voice carries across the complex

Temple of Saturn. Today is Saturday, the day of Saturn. Worshipers give mustard oil as offering to improve their luck.


The symbol of suttee, too sad for me.

View from medieval hunting lodge 

Saffron sweets in the market

Monkey on fort wall at dusk



Indian dancing. That’s Peggy and me trying to keep up.

Chanderi - Ancient Ruins, Family Meal, Henna, and Ancient Coins

The ruins at Chanderi are everywhere. It is a medieval walled city dating mostly from 14th to 15th century. The town is currently a popular set for Bollywood movies, and our guide filled out an application to make it a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Mustavva took us to the monuments, but also showed us his ancient coin collection. He collects them just after the monsoon season when the ground is disturbed. His oldest coin is from 300 B.C.

Oh, and he had us over to his house for a lovely dinner.

The oldest coin, from 300 B.C.

The dinner his wife made was fabulous, with dal, homemade chapatis, cashew curry, and more. It was the best food we’ve had so far.

We ran into this group of kids on the road to one set of monuments. Our guide Chimme is there on the left. Mustavva, our local guide, wants us to send him prints so that he can give them to the children.

Sunset from one of the many Chanderi monuments.


The ruins of a monument to star-crossed lovers from the 15th century.


Mustavva’s daughter painted our hands with henna. She did all of this detailed work in less than an hour.


A group shot from Mustavva’s House. He is in the far left and his wife is in the center. The rest of our group are holding up their cards with their names in Arabic, Hindi, and Sanskrit. 



Me thanking Mustavva’s wife for the hospitality.

So Mustavva comes from a Muslim family. His house is in a weaving conclave and as we walked there we passed many men working on their looms...some with silk, and others cotton. I know how hard it is to sit at those looms for even one hour.

We peeked into the window here. At the left is the father of the house weaving, and to the right are mother and children.

Chanderi - the Ancient Market

We got on another train for a four-hour journey to our destination, the small town of Chanderi, a village of 40,000, tiny compared to Delhi and Agra. Looking out the window it seemed that the pollution was following us, but miraculously was clear in the town. Our elevation, according to whatismyelevation.com, is 1495 feet, enough to help with the dusky air.

On the way, we also saw many cows, pigs, and sheep, and women washing clothes in a reservoir. Intrepid hired a very knowledgeable guide for us, Mustafa, who is a local and national celebrity. He has his own stamp showing his profile, and a companion stamp of a dahlia named after him. This man traces his ancestry back to the year 1304! He is part of the Muslim community which comprises 30 percent of the village.

Mustafa first took us through the ancient market, which has been in continuous operation for 800 years. The streets were very narrow — it is a medieval walled city — and motorcycles drove through the street amongst the pre-Diwali shoppers and the shop displays which also lined the narrow streets. In the mix were cows and goats. As a lover of markets, I must say this was way up there in the 99 percentile. The noise and associated fear of the motorcycles was the only damper on enjoyment.

The narrow alleys of the Chanderi market

This is a wider street.

A blurry photo of a baby cow and cart

A goat lounging in a recession in the thick city walls