Kashi Yatra - Part 2

I had ended the first part of the Kashi yatra writing about the boat ride by the side of the ghats and the evening ganga aarti. I forgot to mention the antics of the boatman. Our group had hired three boats. The boatmen were all Bengalis. They took us from Khidkiya ghat in the north till the last one in the south (Assi ghat) and then back to Dashashwamedh ghat just in time to view the Ganga aarti.

Our boatman was the most sociable of the lot. He was more than willing to regale us with stories of each ghat when we passed them. If he did not know the backstory of a particular ghat, he would dismiss that as an insignificant one!

When we reached Assi ghat, our boatman suddenly stripped to his undergarments and jumped right off the boat. He surfaced a few minutes later, calmly climbed back on and got dressed. As an afterthought he thought it better to explain to us that he took a bath since it was too hot.

5^th April

Thankfully unlike the day before, the wakeup call was at 03:45 AM, a relatively earthly hour!

The first stop for the day was the Kal Bhairav temple. Kal Bhairav is considered to be the protector (kotwal) of the city.

Outside, a baba remarked to us that darshan of Lord Vishwanath is not complete without paying respects to the Bhairava. Though we formed a queue, once inside it was quite disorderly as we got closer to the sanctum sanctorum. It was good to get darshan of the silver faced idol of Kal Bhairav but the commercialisation in the area inside the temple was not nice to see.

The next stop was the Maha Mritunjya mandir. This was less crowded and we had more space to settle down and meditate. Some of us got a chance to practice our yoga as well. 

Inside the temple complex, is the Dhanvantareshwar Koop (well). Legend has it that Dhanvantari (the celestial physician) had dropped various medicines/drugs like Mrit Sanjivini into this well.

The water from the well is supposed to have healing properties. I had two glasses of water from the well. It tasted normal.

Outside we found this baba who was more than happy to have his snap taken.

We headed back to the hotel for a late breakfast.

In the evening, we left for the Markandeya temple a bit away from Varanasi. From the main road, we travelled through villages and by the banks of the Ganga was situated this beautiful temple.

There was a huge ghat nearby and many of the group decided to have a bath first.

The river was quiet and calm – and clean too. As the evening wore on and the temperatures became bearable again, it was a serene atmosphere out in open by the banks of the Ganga.

6^th April

The plan was to visit a couple of Devi temples. We headed off to Vindhyachal – the temple of Vindhyavasini (around 2 hours away near Mirzapur) early in the morning (3:30 AM). We were expecting a rush in the Devi temple due to Navarathri but once we got there, we were pleasantly surprised to see that the crowd management was impressive.

Vindhyavasini Devi (Image from the internet)

Since darshan was completed quickly, the organisers decided to (after a quick breakfast) add another Devi temple  – Kali Khoh to the itenary. This temple is situated on top of a small hillock and here we had to take ‘special’ darshan – one of the local volunteers negotiated with the administrators and they took us in groups of 20 for darshan. I am sad to say money would definitely have exchanged hands.

Child dressed as Lord Shiva

On the way back, near the outskirts of the city we stopped at the Shool Tankeshwar Shiva temple again by the banks of the Ganga. Myth has it that Ganga was angry with Shiva for breaking her fall to the earth. She decided to get back at Shiva by destroying his favourite city (Kashi). As she approached with a violent force, Shiva threw his trishul into the ground at the entry point of Kashi (to the south).  Ganga slowed down and agreed to flow gently though Kashi.  Myth it may be but locals say that the force of the river considerably slows down as it approaches this area and from then on – till it exits Kashi on the north side, the river flows calmly!

It was a serene atmosphere by the river (in spite of the heat) and after darshan we headed back in time for lunch.

The organisers had booked in advance (online) for Saptarishi pooja in the evening at the Kashi Vishwanath temple. We reached early and settled down well before the allotted time. Though there was a huge crowd, we could get good darshan. Like the mangal aarti, the saptarshi pooja was also an incredible experience difficult to put into words. We also had a lot of quiet time for meditation. We reached the hotel pretty late – exhausted but really satisfied.

7^th April

This being the last day of the official yatra, the morning started with a short trip to the Mallikarjun mandir which was on top of a small hillock.

We had good darshan as there was no rush there. Some of us had time to settle down and meditate / do our practices.

We also got a chance to see the sunrise from a different perspective – from atop the hillock. As you can see from the skyline in the picture below, the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ coexist in modern day Varanasi 

As we were leaving, one of the local residents checked us out and left once he was satisifed that we were not going to hang around for too long!

The next and last stop was at the Baidyanath temple. Like the earlier temple, there were very few pligrims visting this early in the morning and we hung around for a few minutes after darshan. 

We headed back to the hotel and had a satsang/closing ceremony on the lawns. We were all appreciative of the organisers for their selfless efforts and patience. A few of the participants got emotional as we had bonded in the space of just four days. All in all, a very well organised and managed trip. We had such a good time that the four days had whizzed past quickly.

In the third and final part of this series, I will write a shorter post about the couple of days I got to spend on my own after the conducted trip was over. Hope you enjoyed reading the first two parts and will come back to read the final part of this series. 🙏

Kashi Yatra - Part 1

It was Mark Twain who after visiting Kashi commented that the city looked “older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together”. I have been fascinated by Kashi (also known as Banaras / Varanasi) for a long time and have been meaning to make a trip for a few years now. During the three and a bit years’ I lived in Indore, I thought of travelling to Kashi but somehow, I could never make it. Finally, I got a chance in early April this year when I decided to join a yoga group. 

This being my travelogue, it is a collection of my observations and experiences during the week I spent there. There is abundant material available on the internet / books that can enlighten you on the myths, customs and even on the significance of the geographical layout of this ancient city.

2^nd April

I reached Varanasi around 7:30 PM - the evening before we were supposed to report at the assigned venue.  The airport was neat and well maintained but around 30 kms away from the city.

Since I had no clue, I had booked overnight stay based on feedback on the booking sites. The prepaid taxi chap took one look at the address and started complaining. It appears that the areas near the ghats are very congested and four wheelers find it difficult to navigate there. After a heated conversation with the hotel chap on the phone, the cabbie reluctantly took me to the place.

Nearing the city, we passed by the cantonment area which was upmarket with many swanky hotels including the Taj Ganges and even a mall.

And boy was the cabbie right!  It took us 45 minutes to cover the last 2 kilometres.  Pedestrians, bikes, cycle rickshaws, cows, dogs, cars and electric rickshaws jostled for space on narrow roads. A couple of chaps had parked themselves underneath the roadside tap calmly lathering themselves with soap. Being Navarathri (Ram Navami was a few days away), every single temple was decked up and the loudspeakers were trying to drown each other out. Two wheelers were continuously honking as if this act would give them extra horse power.

I had to walk the last 250 meters since the car would not go any further. Quickly dodging the hotel manager’s rant on the driver, I took a shower, grabbed some food and went to sleep – I was so tired that the condition of the room and lack of amenities did not matter.

3^rd April

Since I woke up early, I decided to make the most of the location of the hotel. I quickly walked towards the Dashashwamedh ghat which is the primary ghat close to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.  While the ghat area was crowded at this early hour, the roads were relatively empty.

At the main ghat, it was a mela atmosphere. Boat men were soliciting customers for rides, others were offering to put ‘tikka’ for a fee, tea sellers were selling wares and pandits on raised platforms offering to do kriyas for pilgrims.

I decided to walk to an adjacent ghat (Ahilyabhai ghat) which was quieter. Settling down to a cup of lemon tea I watched the sunrise over the ganges – it was a beautiful experience.

After an hour or so I walked back to the hotel and stopped by ‘Sita ki rasoi’ to have yummy puri sabji. 

Reporting time at the main venue was noon. So, I quickly checked out from my ‘city’ hotel and started the hunt for a cab to take me there. After a couple of hits and misses, I finally got someone who agreed to take me to the cantonment area which was where our ‘new’ hotel was located.

The group as I was soon to find out numbered around 100. The organisers were volunteers from the main yoga centre (including a couple of brahmacharis) and local volunteers. They were very patient and meticulous. Over the next few days, everything was near perfect – they divided us into groups of 15 and each group was assigned a leader and a tempo traveller.

Post a sumptuous lunch, we proceeded to Sarnath. As you may be aware, this is one of the four most important pilgrimage sites for Buddhists. It was here that Buddha gave his first sermon.  It is also well known as the place where the “Lion Capital of Ashoka” pillar was erected. The museum run by ASI (no cameras allowed inside) displays what remains of the ‘lion heads’ and the ‘chakra’. The official state emblem of India is from part of the structure. Close by at the stupa site, one can find the remains of the original pillars.

It was interesting to see the ruins of the ‘Mulagandhakuti’, the hut where Buddha spent the first rainy season while at Sarnath.

The Dhamek stupa was very imposing.

The guide also told us an interesting story about the ‘Dharmarajika Stupa’ of which only the foundation is visible today. It was demolished by the Kashi naresh (ruler of Kashi) and his general carted away the rubble to Varanasi to be used as building material for a market that stands to this day!

4^th April

We made a very early start on 4^th April waking up before 1 AM in order to participate in the Mangal aarti at Kashi Vishwanath temple. The mangal aarti is the first aarti of the day. All floral offerings from the previous day are removed before abhishekam, fresh decoration and aarti - if one is lucky one can get darshan of the original lingam devoid of decorations. Because of the rush I couldn’t glimpse the lingam but got a good darshan of the mangal aarti. It was an elaborate ritual and a mesmerizing experience – not to be missed. Meditating in the courtyard post the aarti was also a calming experience.

After darshan, we also visited the Annapoorna temple and Vishalakshi shakti peet both of which are close to the Vishwanath temple. The walk to the pick-up point from the shakti peet gave us an opportunity to walk through the newly built Kashi Vishwanath corridor. It was grand and imposing.

Unfortunately, I do not have pictures to share since we had to leave our phones etc. in the room before proceeding to the main temple in the morning. Here is a picture I took earlier of the main entrance.

Notice the statue of Adi Shankara atop the dwar.

Here are a few pics from the internet of the main temple and the mosque

Mangal aarti

The temple complex from above

Gyan vaapi mosque

The original site of the Vishweshwar temple was adjacent to the Gyan vyapi well (well of knowledge), this structure was demolished and rebuilt at least thrice - the last time on the orders of Aurangazeb who ordered the Gyan vyapi mosque to be built on top of it. In the picture above you will not fail to notice that part of the original structure was left untouched. 

The present temple was funded and built by the famous Holkar queen Abhilyabai. One interesting thing about the temple is that the original temple complex had a statue of Nandi facing the original lingam. When they rebuilt the temple at the adjacent site, they left the Nandi as-is. The Nandi still faces the old structure (now mosque)!

Today the whole complex is heavily guarded and barricaded. There is a huge metal barrier all around where the present temple and mosque share a common ‘wall’.  

There is a huge tree that gives shade to both the temple and the mosque. This tree and the gang of monkeys that run amok in the complex are possibly the only large beings that can freely access both places of worship!

We returned for a late breakfast and some well deserved rest. Due to the temperature touching 42 degrees during the day, the protocol for the next few days was – early start, rest during the day time and travel again after 4 PM

After a nap, we proceeded to the ghats again – this time for a boat ride and a view of the ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh ghat from the boat.

Here are some pics I snapped of the ghats.

Khidkiya Ghat

View of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor entrance from the river

Flower diyas floating on the ganga

4th April was a really long day and this has turned out to be a long-ish blog entry too 😊.

Hope you enjoyed my account of the first three days of my trip (do post your comments) ... to be continued...