Sunday 09 February

Varanasi 

Our train from Agra to Varanasi Junction arrived two hours late at 0800 this morning, so we had less time in Varanasi than we planned. Our overnight train to Chandigarh is leaving at 14:47, so we only had a few hours. The station at Varanasi was really crowded – even though we thought that lots of the people on our train had got off a couple of stops earlier at Prayagraj – where the Kumbh Mela Hindu pilgrimage is taking place.

We left our bags at the cloakroom, admired the lovely station facade and headed into the city.

Varanasi (known as the‘city of light’ is situated on the West Bank of the sacred river Ganges, it’s one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. I was hoping to see the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and then to see the river. We asked a tuk tuk driver to take is to the temple but he explained that an area in the centre of the city was a pedestrian only and he could only get us about 1km from the temple. That seemed ok.

We were dropped off and walked through barriers towards the temple and the river – there were thousands of people doing the same, many dressed in orange or red – really looking happy and cheerful. The closer were to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple  the denser the crowds became until we were on the middle of a total scrum with police blowing whistles and trying to direct the crowd. The queues to go to the temple were enormous – so we abandoned that and made our way to the river. Even that was a challenge – we were jammed up so tight with others that it felt dangerous … a fall would have been fatal. We held on to each other tightly.

We came to the river at Prayag Ghat (steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals). The scene was extraordinary – hundreds of boats, thousands of people, some bathing in the water, beautiful flowers and flames floating on the river. We walked along the river for a while, and there was a lovely atmosphere. 

We walked past some Hindu holy men and tried to take everything in.

According to Hindu belief, dying in Varanasi is auspicious and grants instant salvation and thousands are cremated on the banks of the river. I didn’t want to go to the cremation ghats – it felt prurient and disrespectful, so we turned back inland down some lovely narrow lanes filled with little stores selling garlands, flowers, beads, bangles and shawls.

We needed to get some supplies for the train so went in search of a supermarket then took another Tuk Tuk back to the railway station for our next train to Chandigarh.