Guide Shali picked us up at the Radisson Hotel at 6:00a for a ride to the famous Ghats of Varanasi. Drivers are not allowed to drive to the ghats themselves and let tourists out several hundred meters from the waters edge. We walked in the dark with pilgrims while locals sold necessary prayer items; flowers, fruits, lamps and candles. This iconic tour by private boat on the Ganges or Ganga River is very popular and sightseeing in Varanasi revolves around its over 100 Ghats (river landings). We, like all other tourists, revisit the Ghats at night when the evening Aarti Ceremony at Dashashwamedha Ghat takes place.
Dashashwamedha ghat is the busiest bathing ghat in Varanasi. Boats can be hired at this ghat for a tour of the riverfront. It is also the most popular site for Hindus to perform ancestor worship rituals, and the entire ghat is lined with umbrella-covered stalls where Brahmin priests perform puja, morning and night.
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Ghats are very wide steps leading down to the river’s edge where thousands of Hindus pray and bathe in the sacred waters. Varanasi is India’s religious capital and the holiest city in the world for Hindus on the sacred Ganga River (Ganges). People come to take holy dips and offer prayers to the elements, and their dead ancestors, believing that these waters can absolve the sins of generations. Only hardy locals were bathing today during India’s winter and those who ventured in the Ganges cover their bodies with sandalwood or mustard to keep warmer.
tourists on the Ganges River in early morning, Varanasi
selling flowers for prayers on the Ganges River in early morning, Varanasi
walking to the Ghats before sunrise, Varanasi
Some people drink the water while others fill pots and plastic bottles for sale to bring Ganges holy water back home to perform rituals and purification. Sewage isn’t supposed to flow into the Ganges anymore but it still very polluted. I guess the Indian people are immune to this water since we did see them drinking it.
The most important pilgrimage for devout Hindus covers the five important Ghats: Asi, Dashashwamedh, Adi Keshava, Panchganga and Manikarnika; a 58 kilometer/36 mile route that takes six days on foot. The magnificent and crumbling palaces and temples will keep tourists busy snapping hundreds of photographs.
Varanasi Temple built by King of Nepal
Varanasi Temple along the Ganges River
Varanasi along the Ganges River
You’ll row by Dabhanga Palace, Raja Ghat Palace, Maharajah of Panpatt Palace, a palace built by the King of Udaipur, a replica of Pashipatinath in Kathmandu built temple was built by King of Nepal; the sights are endless.
Young girls selling little floating candles (.16 cents USD each) surrounded by flowers for pilgrims at Dashashwamedh Ghat to float in the water as a memorial to ancestors and wishes for good health to those still living. Shali instructed me in prayers when it was time was to gently place the candle in the water but klutzy me couldn’t get it in the water intact; it fell apart but my still lit candle gently floated off.
Sheila’s candle still burning as it drifts in the Ganges River, Varanasi
selling from a boat on Ganges River, Varanasi
partially submerged temple in the Ganges River, Varanasi
Shali led us for a short walk past some of the Ghats before getting into a private boat which was rowed past the many important Ghats to see temples, palaces and washermen slapping the #!*? out of clothes against steps at the Dhobi Ghats. If you’ve ever had a pair of stained blue jeans that wouldn’t come clean, it will once it is handed over to a Dhobi Ghat, trust me.
Information about the Hindu religion with its gazillion gods and goddesses makes my eyes glaze over, but I do understand that dying beside the Ganges means liberation from the endless cycle of life and death, reincarnation, and eternal absolution. So for centuries, thousands of people have come to Banaras, Varanasi’s ancient name to die, and thousands have brought ashes of the dead to immerse in the holy waters.
lingam for Shiva, Varanasi
more temples and ghats in Varanasi, India
early morning bathing in the holy Ganges River, Varanasi
