A spiritual night safari at Varanasi

Varanasi can be a great spiritual experience if you can shut your eyes to the garbage heaps and the human chaos!

We went around waking the Gods that night.  It sounds irreverent, but in actual fact was possibly the most religious thing I’ve ever done. Spiritual I may be, though not religious in a ritualistic sense.

But this time was different. This was Varanasi. And when in Varanasi, you do what Varanasi does. And if you wish to do it with dignity, you beat the crowds and do it earlier. So, we decided to visit the Gods before dawn.

Varanasi is a city that doesn’t sleep, and the reason is diametrically opposite to that which keeps other sleepless cities up. No bars, drunken men or temptresses here; this city is kept up by religious fervor and its Benarasi sari industry. At 2 am all we saw on the roads were cows, cops and men ferrying around white bundles containing exquisitely woven saris.

Barricades and a posse of cops revealed that we had arrived at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Enter and you see a forlorn Nandi facing the mosque at the entrance. This, we are told, is proof that the Vishwanath Temple once stood where the mosque built by Aurangzeb stands today, because Nandi always faces Lord Shiva.

In the sanctum sanctorum we saw an amazing sight. Uniformed cops stepped in and out of the room and participated in rituals along with the priests as the holiest of holy Shiva linga was washed, showered and dressed with much fanfare. The cops not only helped pass along the holy water and other stuff needed for the puja, but also beat drums, blew conches and distributed prasad. And yes, in between all this they also attempted to manage the overenthusiastic crowds that reached despite the early hour!

When Shiva prayers reached a crescendo, a priest started shaking his head vigorously in frenzy, sending his long curls dancing. The cops joined in with a lusty “Har har Mahadev” and shook their heads too till it seemed they would drop off their torsos. Mesmerised by the cops’ religious zeal and jostled by people who all wanted to touch, smell or bow to anything that emerged from the sanctum sanctorum, we managed our moments of private conversation with Shiva and emerged feeling virtuous.

Next we headed to Sankat Mochan Temple to awaken Lord Hanuman, who was still asleep when we reached, possibly stirring at the sound of the loud kirtan at His doorstep. Everyone crowded around at 4.30, but Hanuman’s first sighting of the morning had to be Lord Ram and Sita, whose images were placed in a straight line from His. So, a human corridor was created and curtains both sides were opened simultaneously.

Next on the list was Assi Ghat, famous as a tourist attraction for its aarti, sunrise, culture and rich tradition. Three hundred people visit every hour and Tulsidas is said to have breathed his last here. The Ganges has swollen to almost danger mark this monsoon and the famed Benares steps that lead down to the river have disappeared. As a result the renowned aarti here has been limited to a very small temple and with sunrise obstructed by clouds, this wasn’t much of an experience. The diyas and rose petals we sent floating down the Ganges uplifted us somewhat.

Now it was time for fragrant tea in earthen kullars and some mouthwatering hot kachoris with sabzi.

Shockingly in a city that prides itself on being the holiest of the seven sacred cities, the heaps of garbage are unbelievable. Everywhere you look are heaps of trash that cows feed on. Swachh Bharat indeed!

The best Varanasi experience by far was the evening Ganga Aarti at the Dashahwamedha Ghat, the most spectacular of the ghats associated with legends around Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva. The beautifully synchronized aarti here is a choreographed performance that is our spiritual version of Broadway.

If you can close your eyes to the garbage and don’t mind the unbelievable crowds, Varanasi can be a spiritual experience like no other. But, imagine if the government was actually to clean up the place and organize the chaos? Varanasi would be Heaven then! Would love to go back that day!