The Wonder that is Varanasi

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

W

hen, after our Part I tests we decided to have a trip to Benaras,many eye-brows were raised. “Going to Benaras?” What an odd choice of place! “Only Octogenarians and nonagenarians go there” were some of the snide remarks. To tell the truth, we were also unsettled by these comments,but took the chance and it goes without saying that we were handsomely rewarded. 

We, Anupam, Prasenjit, Dipankar, Tathagata, Sunando, Kumar, Sujoy, Indradeep from the English Department & Tanmoy from the Computer Science department boarded the Doon Express on 23rd February. The journey itself was an unforgettable experience. We didn’t miss a single food items that was sold and the ‘Chanawalas’ and the ‘Samosawalas’ had a gala time.  But there was something more to it. You just can’t take Bihar which we had to cross,for granted. Gaya came late at night and as we were fast asleep, “one of the innumerable dacoits in the dacoit-infested Gaya”, as Jatayu would have put it, set himself to task and two of our luggage which were tied with a chain under the seats, were gone. And gone with them were almost four thousand rupees,clothes,other valuable things and what-not. Kumar & Tanmoy became penniless. We were only one night old in our journey and such an incident to begin with was enough to unsettle us thoroughly.

   But, we thought “Bhole Baba par Karega” and so he did.  The moment the train crossed the huge bridge over the Ganges and we caught the first glimpse of the sprawling ghats, we forgot  at once all the unpleasant things. We dropped coins in the river, from the train itself and it was the first bit of “Punyo”, we earned in Benaras.

Kumar has his maternal uncle’s house in Benaras and this formed our base. This place is called Sonarpura and it was, we learnt, only a stones-throw away from Raja Harischandra Ghat. When we reached  Sonarpura, by rickshaw, we saw the real Benaras. Dirty, messy, polluted, chaotic, damn over-crowded, yet charming and of course holy and gothic. We saw the much talked about ‘golies’ or by-lanes and old imposing building stooping over them. These alleys were not more than 3 feet wide and still inside them were shops,beggars,cycles and scooties parked and of course pedestrians.  Above all there were the sacred bulls which would block your way anywhere and everywhere and would answer the nature’s call wherever they liked.

Now, the house we decided to stay deserves special mention. It at once reminded us of the bastion of Maganlal Meghraj in Jai Baba Felunath. The same doors with square-shaped designs on it, the same painted armed guards on either side. Inside, the house there was a long and wide courtyard surrounded by rooms. There were practically no windows. Sunlight came through an opening in the roof. There was a narrow dark stair-case with uneven steps. As a matter of fact, one had to feel the steps and ascend without knowing where one is going.

That evening itself we made our first visit to a ghat. It was the Principal Ghat of Benares—Dasaswamedh. We got a close look at ‘Kashir Ganga”. The river was flowing slowly and smoothly and was dotted with floating lamps. Little boys and girls, apparently innocent, but mischievous in intent, were selling those lamps and this was how ‘they earned their livelihood. They would frisk about the steps through the crowd, jump from one boat to another and forced their wares on the customers. Dasaswamedh is twenty ghats away, southwards from Raja Harishchandra Ghat, near which we stayed. On the very first day we were fortunate enough to experience the awe-inspiring and breath-taking sight of the “aarti” of Devi Ganga. If there was only one thing on earth which words could not describe it was this spectacle. People from far east and far west gazed at it and were trying to figure out what they were seeing was real. It was spell-binding, solemn and esoteric. Seven Purohit, young,  tall and handsome, simple yet elegantly dressed, standing on a platform and facing the river were performing the “aarti”. What caught the eye were their synchronized movements. All were performing the same thing at the same time. Some of the devotees were singing devotional songs. Our very own resident photographer, Kumar got busy with Sunanda’s Nikon. The rest of us along with thousands of people stood watching. The divine spectacle was enough to purify the soul.

That same evening we returned to Sonarpura, walking through the ghats and the sights which greeted us at Raja Harishchandra Ghat was blood cuddling. Raja Harishchandra ghat is one of the principal burning ghats of Benaras. It s said that around two hundred bodies are cremated there, every day. At a glance, we saw ten bodies burning, including that of a child.

One of the most spine-chilling experiences was the visit to Monikornica Ghat.. When we reached there,

it was already dark and we saw thirty pyres burning at the same time. The whole group was pretty excited from the beginning about going to Monikornica but when we reached there, it had subsided. To add to our misery, the lights went out and the entire area was plunged into darkness. There was absolute silence, except the crackling of burning wood. We saw the “Dom” using a big log to smash a skull. We (except Indra and Tanmoy, they were the most chicken-hearted) walked past the burning pyres. We could see that fifteen more bodies were waiting for their turn. Our torment was not over yet. When we were returning through the alleys which were hardly 3 feet wide bodies draped in white were carried past us.

The following morning we went to the Vishwanath Temple. The lane that leads to the temple is famously known as “Vishwanather Gali”. It was like any other labyrinthine alley in Benares, but brighter. “Vishwanather Gali” is extremely crowded with devotees at any hour of the day and shops jostled for space. One will find everything under the sun, in those shops. At every two feet there were machine-gun totting guards. The sight inside the temple was spectacular. The “Shiva-linga” was decked with flowers and bathed in milk. The temple floor was cobbled with silver coins. The peaks of the temple were covered with solid gold. The rites were being performed by four Pandas with big fat bodies covered with Sandal Wood paste. We also visited the adjoining mosque along with the Gyan-Bapi and Hanuman Mandir where recently people were killed due to terrorist activities.

Benaras is also famous for its “paan”, “bhang”, “rabri” and “lassi’. We bought pan-masala worth rupees two thousand from a well-known shop. Some of us also bought “Benarasi-attar”; It was very costly though. In Godhulia we tasted bhang! It is actually a drink of pesta-badam flavor to which a spoonful of bhang was added. Though Indra was interested, eventually didn’t have it because it was his responsibility to keep an eye on the others, lest they should do something un-wanted. We walked home safely, after an hour or two, one could feel the punch. Everybody started laughing unnecessarily and didn’t stop. Tanmoy said that it seemed to him that somebody was pulling him to the ghats. He proposed that we should go to Raja Harishchandra Ghat at mid-night - he demanded that he was not joking. Tatha and Anupam went out of the room in an all out effort to stop laughing. Indra was utterly confused as to how to calm down the ecstatic children of “Baba Bholenath”. The only saving grace was that Sujay went straight to bed as he didn’t have enough confidence in himself and knew that if he started, all hell would break loose in Sonarpura.

Another memorable experience was bathing in the Ganges every afternoon.

Except Sujay and Tanmoy, everybody managed to swim. So we, had a whale of a time. Tanmoy somehow managed but guess what Sujay did! He brought a mug, took the Ganges to be a bucket of water, filled the mug and emptied it over his head standing on the steps!! But the second day onwards we forced him to dip in the holy water. The antics of the over enthusiastic group amused the local people much.

         

So, what we did in Benaras :

Indradeep:  All credit goes to him for the tour. He managed the funds. But for some mysterious reasons he has avoided submitting the accounts.

Sunando:       Vanished every now and then behind a cloud of smoke.

         

Tathagata:   Remember the body-builder in “Jai Baba Felunath” ? No?- have a look at him.

Dipankar:      … was too busy eating.

Anupam:       Was extremely lethargic and his bowels didn’t stand by him.

Tanmoy:       Got a crash course in swimming. Was un-fazed even after the loss in train.

Sujay:              Tried his hands at rowing. Perplexed the Benarasis with his own brand  of      Hindi- “tum hare pass Chhakni nahi hai?” when he wanted a glass of clean water.

Prasenjit:      Invoked the spirits of Bhole Baba which left him entranced.

Kumar:           Was the busiest person taking snaps.. made others busy posing for photos.

 

  Script by- Prasenjit Paul

  Photos by- Kumar Shankar Roy

    Ramakrishna Mission NDP 

“Prasenjit did a magnificent job by penning down the entire tour & its events. It is often the case that I go through this article, so thought of publishing it on my blog in order to have other members reminisce.”