This was a trip where I realised what it was to live a dream. Not just mine but also of my parents’. Kashi is believed in the Hindu religion to be the kshetram where one washes off all their sins merely by visiting it. There is, I am told, no re-birth if one were to breathe his last in Kashi (aka Varanasi, Benares). A place immortalised in history for its sheer divinity, its significance to the Hindus can never be spelt out clearly to capture its full stature. So commenced, our Kashi Yatra. The average age of the 9 member group that I was steering was on the higher side of 60s. After a bit of logistics issues in planning a trip for folks from two different cities, our yatra was finally on.
To begin with, we did the 3 most important temple visits - Shri Vishwanatheshwarar (You may like to see this to understand the sanctity of this Jyotirlingam - Shri Vishwanathashtakam), Annapuraneshwari, Visalakshi and Kala Bhairavar - in the first 3 hours of our landing in this temple town of Varanasi. Temples about which I had been fed with stories since young were there right before my eyes...and I wanted to, if I could, halt the time machine for a few nano-seconds to take in the aura of the these age-old kshetrams that exist in planet Earth.
We proceeded subsequently on a 2 hour drive to Allahabad which is yet another traditional city known for its grandeur and holy rivers. Main attractions during our one day stay at Allahabad were the dip in the Holy Sangam (Triveni Sangamam, a confluence of River Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati). It was followed by a Shraddh ritual which was performed at the Mutt in Allahabad by my father for our generations of fore-fathers – it is believed that the primary purpose behind a Kashi Yatra is to ensure that our pitrus (fore-fathers) are pleased enough to rest their souls in peace – these rituals were continued at Varanasi and Gaya as well, which where subsequent destinations in our yatra.
Varanasi, the City of Lights, is as diverse and intense as one could imagine. The narrow lanes out here with the bustling crowd going around in cycle-rickshaws, shop sellers with an early start to their days giving out flowers and garlands to the devotees, pundits/brahmin priests accompanying clients to mutts, the cows which are a symbol of holiness gifting heaps of dungs, and its milk, generously to the localites – they are all quite a sight to behold. There are 64 ghats along the Ganges in the city of Varanasi (a city which has got its name since it is located between rivers Varuna and Assi). Our program in this city had begun with a boating expedition along the Holy Ganges. We halted at 5 of these 64 ghats which are considered more significant than the rest, where appa and amma had to recite the mantrams and offer pindam. These were performed on two mornings which meant double opportunities for us to take a dip in the Holy Ganges. The most impressive of all is the Manikarnika Ghat which is believed to be the place where Lord Vishnu dug a pit with his Chakra and filled it with his sweat during his penances. While Lord Shiva was watching Lord Vishnu at that time, it is believed that the latter's earring ("manikarnika") fell into the pit. Mythology also goes that to keep Lord Shiva by her side always, Goddess Parvati hid her earrings and asked him to find them, saying that they were lost in the Ganges - her idea behind the lie was that Lord Shiva would then stay, searching forever for the lost earrings. It is also believed that whenever a body gets cremated at the Manikarnika Ghat, Lord Shiva asks the soul whether it has seen the earrings. Another version which is believed is that Lord Shiva himself recites the Taraka Mantra (“Rama”) in the ears of the dead to enable crossing over from the cycle of birth and death to immortal hood. This ghat is loaded with several pyres and at any given point of time, you atleast notice 5 to 6 bodies ready and being queued up for cremation. After witnessing the continuous and never ending dead bodies and funerals at this place, never before had a life - and death - seemed so small and tiny for me. The rich, the poor, the king of Benares, the local paanwala, the merchant, the service professional, god knows who else - in the end, they are all, quite literally, in this city, at the same platform. Rightly said Shri Adi Shankaracharya in Bhaja Govindam which goes like this –
“ Punarapi jananam punarapi maranam,Punarapi janani jatare sayanam,
Iha samsaare khalu dusthare,Krupayaa pare pahi murare”
- [Again and again one is born, and again and again one dies, and again and again one sleeps in the mother’s womb, help me to cross, this limitless sea of Life, which is uncrossable, my Lord]
Matters of life and death apart, we had other locales to take our breath (and in my case, hunger too) away. The spiritual fervour that the daily, hour-long, Ganga Aarti commands is unmatched. It is, indeed, by all means, a different world out there. The other places which we visited included the Holy Sarnath where Lord Buddha preached his first sermons, Tulsi Manas Mandir where Saint Tulsidas wrote the Ramacharitamanasa, Benares Hindu University, etc. Of course, I was ably assisted in my attempt to explore the city by our Chauffeur (Mr. Dilip) who also managed to ensure that I sneak a tiny 15 minute gap to take me to the oldest and most famous Bina Chaat Bhandaar in Varanasi for a hit @ the Alu Tamatar Chaat and Pani Puri – not to forget the endless kulhads of Benarasi Lassi Bhandaars which he took us to...:). Next was Part 3 of the Shraddh rituals which was to be performed at Gaya. The drive from Varanasi to Gaya (a good 4.5 hours long drive) was in itself an experience. We kind of exited Uttar Pradesh, touched the borders of Jharkand and entered Bihar, touching 3 states in a span of 4 hours..:D. Our first visit in this region was to the Mahabodhi Mahaveera temple in Bodh Gaya which houses the holy Bodhi tree which is where Lord Buddha is believed to have achieved enlightenment. Bodh Gaya, mostly inhabited by Srilankan/Thai tourists/nationals, looked less like India and more like some overseas Buddhist nation – their kinds of schools, shops, clinics, crowd, administration prevail; there is nothing quite Indian about this place other than the poorer locals who beg for a living!!
Gaya, which is the place where appa concluded his third phase of his Shraddh rituals, amazed me for more reasons than one. A place so remote and interior, situated in a not so developed state, which does not have power for most parts of the day, where cows and pigs and mosquitoes and flies co-exist in equal numbers with humans, where an 8 year old kid and a 85 year old patti perform domestic chores for a living without a care for their age or health, where poverty is at its peak from whatever I have seen in other belts of the country, is also the city that is considered so sacred by Hindus all across the universe as a place they MUST visit atleast once in their life time. Indeed, some questions cannot be answered even by Google and Wikipedia!! My mom tells me that the Shraddh rituals and the Pind daan performed here command so much sanctity that even the annual rituals performed elsewhere in individual families are considered to be only a representative sample of the sanctity that is associated with Gaya Shraddham.
The yatra did have a fair share of down sides as well. We constantly encountered pundits and their agents/sub-agents whose sole aim seemed to be to leverage on the emotional chord of the ones who come here for spiritual reasons and make money out of us. And as for teaching lessons on cleanliness to localites in Varanasi, I perhaps did not know where to draw the line. The duel I had with a couple of localites on seeing them spit paans in the Ganges is still fresh before my eyes. The Ganges and the other holy rivers are indeed open washrooms for folks who wash themselves and their clothes there alongwith washing off their sins.
But, I must admit, these appeared frivolous before the larger purpose of peace and contentment that we could feel in ourselves. It has only been a week since I returned – and I already am raring to go there sometime again – I simply cannot wait to re-visit. Such is the place... and so was my trip. :))
