Bye Bye Sarnath Hello Varanasi

deer in the park

It has been a great 6 days at the teachings and visiting the stupa which marks the palace where Buddha gave his first teaching. I met some great new friends and caught up with Dharma buddies from before. Before leaving I had a stroll through the deer park and a few rounds around the Stupa and doing some prayers. When Buddha taught in Sarnath 2500 years ago he taught to 5 disciples and it is said that also the deer in the park came to listen. Today there are still deer in the park maybe descendants, who knows. The dear are beautiful but keep behind a wall which is hard to see them Anyway as is India there is buisness surrounding the deer. Children collect guava from the trees and gather vegetable and parcel them up in plastic bags and sell these bags to the tourist for a few rupees. Sucker that I am I bought some guava from Joyti, a young girl around 12. It was a Sunday and she assure me that she does this job after school and on day off. Anyway she was just too cute and took a stone and smashed up the Guava for me and we both fed the deer. She says she like t do this job because she makes some money for the family and also enjoys helping the deer get  good food.

Joyti

puja at the stupa

Varanasi, Benaris or Kashi

Varanasi is only half an hour away so I could not miss the opportunity to visit other Ganga (the Ganges River) and spent some time in the Zhiva holy city of Varanasi, also known as Benares and Kashi. I came here in 1998 and it has not changed much since then , probably because the city is so built up and old there is no where to build by the Ganga.

The first thing that hits you is the contrast between the busy streets teeming with cycle rickshaws, pedestrians and cows and the stillness of the ghats alone the river. It is as if you go back in time here by the river and time also just seems to slow way down. I came here a day ago and needed a day to just adjust and a bit of a rest to fight off a cold and clear the lungs form all the smokes inhaled form the cow dung fires. Yuck!!!

Luckily with in Goa I met Rajesh who has a family guest house at Assi ghat, which is the last or first ghat on the Ganga and is not only away from all the crowds but a wee bit quiet too. Asish guest House and restaurant is  just on the ghat, basic, very friendly, has hot water and the food is great; only 300 rupees ($5.50 approx a night) Call Rajesh at 91991829128 as they do not have a web site. Rajesh also has another guest house in Dharamkot, near Dharamsala  so it seems to be a small world as I keep bumping into folks for Himachal Pradesh. Rajesh tells me that he does a lot of clean up of Assi ghat and gets the locals involved. He gets groups together to pick up and dispose of the rubbish and has gotten all the chia sellers to use traditional pottery cups instead of plastic. Many people at the ghat have great things to say about Rajesh’s efforts and he seems like a really nice guys.

sadhus ready for their purifying dip

This week also sees the beginning of Kumbha Mella; a Hindu festival where thousands of Sadhus (Hindu holy men) come down from their caves in the Himalayas to take a bath in the Ganges.  

http://kumbhmelaallahabad.gov.in/english/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbh_Mela
Allahabad, which is 125 km’s from Varanasi, is a holy city where three rivers meet, the Ganges, the Yumana and the Saraswati.  This city is holy as it is believed that bathing in the meeting point of these three holy rivers purifies ones negative karmas.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allahabad
The mella( festival) will last for one month and many pilgrims will make there way from Allahbad to Varanassi. Already the people form near by villages are coming to Varanassi to beg for the month. For more a recent news article on the preparation of the Kumbha Mela see th following links;
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Is-Allahabad-ready-for-10-crore-pilgrims-during-Kumbh/articleshow/18001894.cms
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshowpics/17928195.cms
and for some photos try http://www.washingtonpost.com/conversations/day-in-photos/2013/01/04/5440e2ae-566d-11e2-a613-ec8d394535c6_gallery.html

Tomorrow is also another festival, the kite festival. All the kids in town are preparing their kite flying skills for the big day. Really as I sit her overlooking the Ganges, every roof to has a t least one kid ( all boys as kites is a boy thing) flying his kite. It is really quite beautiful watching all these bright coloured kites play in the breeze. So in the next few days there will be lots to see and do, lets see what keep me busy in Varanasi. This afternoon maybe a meditation on impermenance by watching events at the burning ghats.