Kashi Yatra - Part 3

Hope you enjoyed reading the first two parts of this series – this is the third and final part covering the last two days of my stay at Varanasi during which for the most part I roamed around alone.

7^th April

The official yatra wound up at around 9 AM. My roommate for the past four days had his return flight in the evening and had a few hours to kill. In-spite of the heat, we decided to make a quick trip to the southern part of the city. First we headed off to the famous Sankat Mochan temple which is situated a couple of kilometers away from Assi ghat.

The temple was not crowded and though the sun was unbearably hot, thanks to the trees in the complex, the temple was comfortable. We just managed to get darshan before the temple closed for the afternoon.

Then we decided to go to the Birla mandir (also known as the new Kashi Vishwanath temple) which is located inside the BHU (Banaras Hindu University) campus.

View of the BHU gate

BHU has a sprawling well planned campus. Inside it looked like a different world all together. The various departments buildings were interspersed with living quarters of various types.  The major mode of transport inside the campus (the campus area is over 5 square kilometers) seemed to be battery operated share rickshaws.

Soon we reached Birla mandir. 

This turned out to be a ‘new’ temple, quite spacious and we had good darshan before we were ushered out by the guards as it was closing time here too. Just outside the temple were a few eateries and we had a couple of snacks and lassi to cool us down.

We headed back to the hotel and whilst my friend headed off to the airport, I relaxed for a couple of hours.

After recharging my batteries, in the evening I started for Assi ghat. This is the southernmost ghat and the most spacious (crowded as well for good measure).

Assi ghat

This picture was taken just before it got crowded

There was a mela like atmosphere and I noticed that this ghat had a fair share of the local folks visiting in the evening. While one would find more tourists at the other ghats, here one could see local families coming here to have a good time.

The time for aarti (which was one of the reasons why I came here this evening) was about an hour away. So I decided to walk northwards and explore the nearby ghats as well. Though I had to be back quickly, during the brisk walk I made mental notes on which ghats to spend more time at the next day.

Just before the aarti, I grabbed a quick bite at the interestingly named Assi food street. They had an even more interesting byline – ‘Hygienic food at ghats’ and indeed the outlets in the ‘food court’ were more hygienic than those outside. 

‘Hygienic food at the ghats’

Then it was time for the evening aarti – though I had a glimpse from afar a couple of days back (from the boat) at Dashwashemedh ghat, today I could get a close up view. As I mentioned in the earlier post, this is an experience difficult to put into words. Suffice to say, the heady mix of sounds from the bells and mantras, light from the lamps, smells of the camphor-mix, synchronicity of the performers/ pandits and the cool breeze from Ganga was hypnotizing. The only jarring note were the artificial lights which seemed vulgar and out of place in a holy setting such as this! 

Evening ganga aarti at the Assi

I managed to get a rickshaw a few hundred meters away from the ghat and returned to the hotel to retire for the night.

8^th April

Waking up early was like second nature by now! I headed off to Godowlia square while it was still dark. The idea was to witness the sunrise from a quiet place. To do that, first I had to navigate my way past the crowds from Godowlia onto Dashashwamedh ghat where there was a larger crowd waiting to greet me. I have mentioned the early morning atmosphere at this ghat in the first part of this series. I slowly walked south passing Ahilyabai ghat and a few other ghats till I found some space that was suitably quiet! I parked myself there on  the steps awaiting the arrival of the Sun.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I have nothing more to add.

I only got a few precious minutes on my own. A tea seller wandered into my ‘kingdom’. The spell was broken.

I could not say no to his offer of masala tea. After walking further south by the side of a few other ghats, I doubled back to Dashashwamedh and further on to Kashi Vishwanath Dwar on the way to Godowlia square.

My next stop was the Kashi Karvat mandir. On the map, it looked very close to the Vishwanath temple. However I had to walk through a few narrow galis (and ask a few locals for directions) to get there.

Kashi Karvat is an ancient and powerfully consecrated temple that finds mention even in the puranas. Today it is temple hidden away in the by-lanes behind Kashi Vishwanath Dwar and visited by few.

Myth has it that there was a karvat (wood cutting instrument) hanging from the roof of the temple and this would fall on those that the Lord had blessed. They would die a gory death on the floor of the temple with their skulls cut open but would attain moksha. When the British came, they banned this practice and rumor has it that the karvat was carted off to a museum in the UK.

Whatever the stories behind the temple, today access to the main linga is restricted (they say that the consecrated energy is too strong). One can view the linga from about 25 feet above. The main temple is in the basement and access is limited to the priest. When I visited, there was no one around neither in the temple area above (with a modern tiled flooring) nor in the basement where the linga could be seen. 

 View of the Kashi Karvat linga from above

After that it was time to return to the hotel before the sun got any stronger.

In the evening, I took a rickshaw and got off at a place from where I could walk to Harischandra ghat. There are two ghats at Varanasi where cremations take place. One is the Manikarnika ghat which is one of the oldest ghats here. The fire for the cremations there have to be mandatorily taken from an ‘eternal flame’ which is said to be around 4000 years old.

A picture of Manikarnika taken on 4^th April from the boat

The second ghat is the Harischandra ghat where both normal and electric cremations are conducted.  Legend has it that it was here that Raja Harishchandra worked in the crematorium. There was a small temple there. After spending a few minutes at Harischandra ghat,  I slowly started walking by the banks of the ganga moving from one ghat to the next observing people along the way.

Very close to Harischandra ghat, I chanced upon an Aghori baba and his disciple. They were in the middle of some puja. The baba looked very ferocious and I could not bring myself to take a snap without permission.

This baba I met a bit further on was more docile and did not object.

A few meters ahead I found a quiet little ghat where I could relax and watch the goings on. There was a quaint little Shiva ‘temple’ no larger than the kitchen in my flat. I was followed around by a dog – the pandit told me (unsolicited) that it was harmless. Soon, I got used to it and it nestled against my leg as I settled down on a bench a couple of meters away from the linga.

From this vantage point I could observe the evening life in Varanasi as dusk fast approached. The boatmen who had not yet found fares (for the ride to Dashashwamedh ghat for the aarti) were still at it soliciting potential customers.

A couple of teenagers were playing badminton on a makeshift ‘court’ dangerously close to the river. A swamiji was slowly trudging along observing everything but not stopping anywhere. He was finally stopped by a foreign lady who wanted his photograph. She was walking away from me but still took around half an hour to move out of sight – she stopped every few meters and took snaps of just about everything.

A youngish looking couple (college going kids probably) found a quiet little spot behind a tree close by. Their privacy was disturbed a while later by a family rushing down the ghat steps in a hurry to get somewhere. The parents were upset by a balloon seller who weaned away the attention of their two kids.

As I was sipping a cup of lemon tea (I was getting to like this by now), ‘my’ dog got into a territorial fight with two others and successfully warded off the ‘invaders’.

As it got darker, the crowds thinned and and soon it was time for me also to say good bye to the Ganga. I had to drag myself away promising myself that I would visit again to relive this experience soon.

I walked back to the Godowlia area to search for a ride back to the hotel but not before visiting the famous Kashi chat bhandar for some tasty snacks.

9^th April

After breakfast it was time to check out. During the journey back I had a lot of time (the layover in Delhi was for 6 hours) to go over the whole experience in my mind. 

I have tried put down on paper what I experienced during the week. However some if it was difficult to put into words – for instance the mangal aarti experience at Kashi Vishwanath, the ganga aartis at the two ghats, the meditative state you fall into when you spend some time by the banks of the river and many others.. I would hope (irrespective of whether you are of a spiritual bent of mind or not) that you are inspired to make a trip to the oldest city in India and live and breath the atmosphere there for a few days. 

The Varanasi of today might on the outside look no different from any other north Indian city – but spend a few days there and it leaves a deep imprint on you. One leaves yearning to come back for more. Return I will, someday…but for now it is back to 'normal' life.

 

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...

 

What's in a name?

Of late, the only regular reader of my blog seems to be my ten year old daughter. She is a voracious reader and like me her reading tastes are diverse. 

A couple of months back she got interested in this blog. She was particularly tickled by the little anecdotes about her sister and herself which I had blogged about when they were toddlers.

She did have one interesting question though - why was the blog named 'Chellakilli'?

As with many things in life, there was no method to the madness. I started this blog in Jan 2009 and one of the objectives was to blog about random stuff in incognito mode. One of the interesting names that I chanced upon (inspired by a dialogue from a malayalam movie released a couple of years before I started blogging) was 'Chellakilli'. Roughly translated (in Trivandrum slang) it means precious and is a term of endearment for a child. 

As you can imagine, I have been tempted to rename/redirect the blog (to a much more relevant name) multiple times. Somehow each time I get started, I shy away from doing so. Maybe this blog is my chellakilli and I am too attached to the name!

F1 2021 season - the best ever ?

Three months back with about half a dozen races to go, I had posted that that the 2021 season was poised for a close finish - probably the closest ever across a whole season.

However even Netflix could not have scripted what happened next over the final races of the season! If the on-track racing was not enough, the off track controversies and shenanigans kept us at the edge of our seats. The driver’s championship lead swung one way then the other.

As we went into the title decider at Abu Dhabi, Max Verstappen led by a thin margin, but Lewis Hamilton seemed to have the stronger car.   Fittingly the two title protagonists qualified on the front row.  The controversies started on lap 1 of the race itself with Lewis’s pass at turn 1 not coming off clean. He took off to the runoff area and rejoined in the lead. Should he have given up the lead (lasting advantage)? Red Bull protested. The stewards deemed that Lewis only needed to cede the ‘time advantage’.          

The first set of pitstops (also expected to be the only one considering both drivers fitted the hards) went to plan. Hamilton seemed to have the advantage and started sailing off into the sunset with his 8^th title.  

Then Perez showed us why he is rated so highly. On older worn out tyres, he held up Hamilton just enough to allow Max to catch him. That was not enough though as Hamilton in clear air again extended his lead. All seemed lost for Red Bull and Max.

A safety car mid race allowed Max to stop for a fresh set of hards. Mercedes opted to stay out to retain track position for Lewis. While this move helped Max close up a bit, it still seemed not enough as Lewis kept the gap to around 10 seconds.

As the laps ran down, Christian Horner interviewed on live television admitted that they needed a miracle from the racing Gods. The miracle happened in the form of Latifi spinning off and hitting the barrier on Lap 53 bringing out the safety car. Red Bull quickly pitted Max for a fresh set of softs while Lewis stayed out.

Then came the biggest controversy of the race. After the debris was cleared up Michael Massi (the race Director) ordered the lapped cars between Lewis and Max to overtake the safety car (this was on the penultimate lap). Immediately thereafter the race was restarted (final lap). On a fresher set of tyres, Max did not even wait for the straights. He made an audacious move at the start and drove past Lewis.  Hamilton fought bravely on the two straights but Max held on for a famous win and a first world championship.

The controversies from race ensured that there were formal protests and counter protests post-race. The final classification was confirmed late into the night after the rulings on the protests. Even post that there was the threat of an appeal (subsequently Mercedes backed down)

Q1 – Should Lewis have ceded position on Lap 1? Would that have made a difference to the way the race panned out?

Q2 – Was it right to restart the race on the final lap? Should it have ended behind the safety car?

Q3 – Was it right to allow only 5 cars to unlap themselves behind the safety car?

Depending on which camp you are in, I am sure the answer for each of the questions would be diametrically opposite to the other! A few would point out to ‘dodgy’ decisions earlier in the season when the two title contenders came together.

The facts remain that both were worthy of the championship in 2021 – no one else came close to them on track and obviously on the leader board either. Unfortunately, there can only be one winner. Max had his share of bad luck earlier in the season and luck has a tendency to even out in the long run. Credit to Lewis that he was dignified in defeat. He has since been silent in the media and has also blocked himself out on social media – but he needs time to get over the loss.

Well done to both for giving us the closest title fight in living memory. Some say it eclipses even the Senna-Prost years. I cannot wait for an encore in 2022. What about you ?!?

Business sense

One of my acquaintances recently started a small business – that of preparation and packaging of a particular food product. Ahead of the launch he used to occasionally bounce ideas off me – but we had not been in touch for the past few weeks.

Last week when I called him to enquire, he informed me that he had launched the product –on a small-scale basis supplying it to retail outlets near his locality. Makes sense and nothing new here you might say.

But he had an interesting take on packaging. He said that he is packaging the same product in two different varieties – same stuff but different names and different colours on the packet. When asked why this was so, his response was that he was targeting potential customers of two different communities and thought it made sense to vary the packaging to match the sensibilities of the different groups.  Clever!

Exciting end to the F1 season

With just 7 races to go, the current F1 season is turning out to be best in the past 10 years. For the first time in the hybrid era Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton have serious competition in the form of Red Bull and Verstappen.

While there never was a doubt about Verstappen’s immense talent, it is only this year that Red Bull have given him a car that can take the fight the to the Mercs.  And boy what a season we have had so far! The two title contenders have come together twice so far.  After more twists and turns than a murder mystery story, Lewis and Max are separated by just two points heading into Turkey next weekend.

While the two team principals and Lewis have played some mind games, Max has mostly steered away from getting involved, letting his driving doing the talking.

Lewis is on the hunt for a record-breaking 8^th driver’s title and Max is out to get his first.

The next few race weekends promise more intrigue and excitement than what we have seen since 2014. Can’t wait for the season finale at Abu Dhabi!