Sunrise over the Big River.

In Wikispeke :

‘In Hinduism, the river Ganges is considered sacred and is personified as the goddessGaṅgā. She is worshiped by Hindus who believe that bathing in the river causes the remission of sins and facilitates Moksha (liberation from the cycle of life and death), and that the water of the Ganges is considered very pure.’ 

So there you go… By plane Varanasi is a 50 minute £40 flight from Delhi; but by car this journey is calculated as at ‘least 14 hours’. No time to lose – get the flight!

Varanasi lies some 520 miles east of Delhi, way out in the expanses of the country’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. To Indians and Hindus in particular, Varanasi is a place of pilgrimage. A place of huge importance. This is where you can come and see ‘Mother’, ‘Mother Ganga’, The river Ganges. And come they do. 

06.00 and a winter dawn on the river after a cold and bumpy Tuk Tuk ride through the almost lifeless streets of the Old City. Here the devout and the devoted gather daily to take the waters, contemplate, or just ‘be’. Many come to gasp their last breath in sight of ‘their’ river and the funeral pyres that burn 24/7.

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The December air is thick with a smokey mist, a mixture of burning cowpats, funeral pyres and dampness. People immerse themselves in the seasonally cold water for health, wealth and good karma.

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Above and below: Despite being out on a holy patch of water, there’s no stopping ‘boarding parties’ arriving with the usual stuff on sale.

For once lost for words and signal…

Above: the logs, the smoke and The End before The Beginning.

It’s said that Hinduism is possibly the oldest religion still practiced. It is also said that Varanasi is the oldest place on earth where humans have lived continuously. It makes for a good combination, stretching back around 3800 years.

‘The Vijayanagaram Gang’ A well organised pack of Ganga hounds who seemed tame and friendly. Stories abound that these beasts are always on alert for human morsels when the flames of a pyre die down.

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Away from the river, colour abounds at the Sarnath Buddhist Temple – with many pilgrims coming overland to this important site from the remote regions of Ladakh and Lhasa. It’s popular and comes with a myriad of votive sellers, street vendors, ‘Guides’, and general hangers on.

The shoeless ‘A-team’ trying to raise an interest in Buddhism, but its too close to lunch for anything to stick…

Monks with an iPad.

Colourful dress at the nearby Jain Temple

To the next destination. Mumbai