{"id":186,"date":"2013-12-21T06:28:32","date_gmt":"2013-12-21T11:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svetanyc.com\/?p=186"},"modified":"2015-01-26T22:19:47","modified_gmt":"2015-01-27T03:19:47","slug":"varanasi-india-december-20-and-21-december-20-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/192.168.2.119:1984\/svetanyc\/2013\/12\/varanasi-india-december-20-and-21-december-20-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Varanasi, India. December 2013."},"content":{"rendered":"

December 20, 2013<\/p>\n

Oh, Varanasi<\/a>! Brace yourself, you will either love\u00a0it or\u00a0hate it! Many say, it is a place of the best and the worst India has to offer, and even though it is only my 2nd and 3rd days in the country, I feel I’ve experienced India.
\nThe history, the river, the ongoing funeral ceremonies, the garbage, the animals, the holiness, the sadhus<\/a>, the temples, the amount of people and touts – incredible! As one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Varanasi won’t leave you unmoved.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_6794\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Varanasi, also know as Kashi (City of Life) and for locals as Banares, is regarded as one of the seven holy cities of Hinduism. Established in 1200 B.C., at the time of Gautama Buddha<\/a> (6th century\u00a0B.C.)\u00a0it\u00a0became\u00a0a capital of the Kingdom of Kashi. They say, the Buddha has founded Buddhism\u00a0in nearby Sarnath<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0528 B.C.;\u00a0 the\u00a0importance of this place was witnessed and recorded by many travelers and religious people visiting Varanasi. In the 8th century A.D., Adi Shankara<\/a> established the\u00a0 Shiva worship\u00a0as\u00a0a principal\u00a0sect of the city, and so it remains a city dedicated to the Lord Shiva<\/a> The Destroyer.<\/p>\n

In 1194, the city fell into the hands of a Turkish king\u00a0Qutub-ud-din Aibak <\/a>who ordered the destruction of over one thousand temples in the city. The following 300 years under the Muslim rule turned out to be disastrous for the city and Hindu worshippers. In the 16th century, a liberal Mughal emperor, Akbar<\/a> brought a cultural revival to the city and ordered a construction of two temples dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu, however, the city\u00a0succumbed to his great grandson Aurangzeb<\/a> in 1665 again.<\/p>\n

In 1897, Mark Twain, the renowned Indophile, said of Varanasi, “Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.” Despite the ancient (or more\u00a0shabby and run-down) look, much of\u00a0Varanasi was built during the 18th century by Rajput and Maratha kings.<\/p>\n

Pilgrims come to the ghats<\/a> (piers) of the Ganga river <\/a>to perform puja<\/a> or to wash away a lifetime of sins; but it is an especially auspicious place to die, since dying in Varanasi will bring you a liberation from the cycle of life and death (moksha<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4229\"<\/a>
\nIt is also a place, where you inescapably share the narrow alleyways (called galis) with cows, goats, humans, dogs, monkeys and multiple modes of transportation. A chaos, that brings the best and the worst out of you and every human, but keeps you in control of your surroundings and surprisingly, offers you serenity and a feel of incredible bonding with everything around you.
\nI loved it.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4087\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After a sleepless night on a train, spent fighting off the army of roaches, I arrived to Varanasi train station 3 hours behind the schedule. My hotel pre-arranged a tuk-tuk pick up and a poor driver waited for me on the station since 8.30 am. On a train, I met an interesting couple from Moscow who were on their honeymoon (though, it was theirs 4th time in India). We said goodbyes and parted\u00a0our ways, knowing that we inevitably run into each other somewhere by Ganga.<\/p>\n