Welcome to the oldest city on earth... Review on Varanasi

Supposedly the oldest city in existence in the world (more than a 1000 years old), Varanasi (also known as Kashi or Benares) is one of those cities where the old exists in conjunction with the new and where age-old traditions are slowly giving way to the demands of a modern world. I had unfailingly heard this holy city being mentioned in all the mythological stories narrated to me during my childhood, so much so, that I once remember asking my father whether all stories happened only at Varanasi!

I will not make this review a “Tourists guide to Varanasi” by listing out details of how to get there, where to stay, etc. Those points have already been covered by someone else who wrote an article recently. I will restrict my review to recounting my own experiences. Let me make it clear at the very outset that this is not a place to go to for a “regular” holiday. One generally goes there only to perform the last rites of ones family members or on a pilgrimage. I'm also highly recommending this place because it deserves nothing less than that.

Indeed there are a great number of tales associated with this city (there is literally a story behind each tree and rock there) and I understood why only when we went there in March-April 2001 to perform the last rites of our father. I had heard so much about the place that I remember being visibly elated when I first saw the railway station. We were greeted at the Varanasi railway station by our would-be guide, a pan chewing, dhoti-clad gentleman by name Lalloo.

Having made our hotel reservations well in advance, we were taken straight away to the hotel located quite close to the ghats as well as to the priests house who would be conducting the last rites. The trip from the station to the hotel took about 15-20 minutes and we got to see the real varanasi on the way. At best, it can be called a medium sized town which lags behind modern civilization by 20-30 years atleast. There was only one main road (as far as I could make out) which is used by everyone irrespective of which direction they intended to go in. The forms of transportation used are pre-dominantly bovine in nature but next only to cycle rickshaws, with the “automatic” ricks coming in a close third.

There are many smaller off-shoot roads which lead to everywhere in general and nowhere in particular, depending on where you want to go. Just for public interest, there are a whole lot of places where one might be accommodated, ranging from Dharmashalas (which are mainly community based) to may be one 3/5-star hotel (I’m not sure which it is).

On asking Lallooji what places to visit while at Varanasi, he immediately reeled off about a dozen places more in the style of a waiter in an udipi restaurant. When we had bathed and refreshed ourselves with some breakfast and coffee, we were taken to the famed “ghats” of Varanasi. For those not familiar, a “ghat” is a nothing but a series of steps leading down to a river. There were ghats stretching out in both directions as far as our eyes could see. With the seasoned eye of a resourceful guide and having wisely anticipated our next question, Lallooji promptly broke in “There are more than a 100 ghats on the banks of the ganges, you should take an early morning boat ride if you want to see most of them”. Thank you sir.

We spent the rest of the day roaming around the city with nothing particular in mind but had an elaborate 5 course lunch session at our priest’s house who narrated a few tales for our benefit (how Varanasi was the only city left untouched by that despot we know as Aurangazeb, how Lord Shiva granted a boon that whoever dies at Varanasi would go directly to heaven and not have any future births,etc.). From the next day on, for the rest of our stay there (another 5-6 days), the mornings were mostly spent in performing the last rites of our father and visiting a few places the rest of the time. In order to aid us and get rid of the irritating Lallooji, we engaged an auto rickshaw driver to show us the sights around.

For those interested, there is the Benares Hindu University one of the oldest universities in the country having been founded by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya and the foundation stone of which was laid by the then Viceroy and governor-general of India, Lord Hardinge in 1906. It is a very huge campus and also houses a temple built by the house of Birla’s and dedicated to Lord Kasi Vishveshwar. Apart from this, there are about a dozen other temples (including the original and legendary Lord Vishveshwar temple itself) where Lord Shiva is worshipped in the “linga” form. There are others like the Manas temple, Bharat Mata temple (which contains a prototype of India on the floor and shows all the rivers, mountains, etc.) Ah, and please dont forget to visit Sarnath, the high seat of buddhism in India...there are a few stupas and an exhibition containing all the unearthed relics from the Buddha age. One also gets to see the remains of the famed ''Ashoka pillar'' here.

For those inclined towards shopping, there are lots of shops that sell handicrafts as well as the famous “Benares” sarees. Apart from these major items, there are many shops that sell small trinkets like lamps, idols of Gods, etc. Another notable attraction is the palace/fort of the King of Benares which looks truly majestic from a distance, overlooking as it does, the even more majestic Ganges river. We decided to explore the fort and our new guide (Aslam Bhai, the rickshaw driver) made it a real memorable experience for us. The way leading to the fort was constructed nearly 60-70 years ago (that’s as far as anyone there could remember it) and comprised nothing more than narrow wooden planks pieced together by ropes and supported by huge containers (like the ones in which oil and petrol are transported). It was one hell of an experience crossing from one end to another with the fear in our minds that the bridge might collapse if the rick went at a speed of anything more than 10 kmph!

Aslam bhai, however seemed unperturbed by our seemingly unnecessary fears and confidently took us across with the expertise of one who could do the great Indian rope trick blindfolded! The fort was as grand within as it appeared from outside. Fortunately, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), had done a good job of maintaining the fort in decent shape and we really enjoyed seeing all the artifacts of an era gone by.

The last and bestest (forgive me for my shameful use of English, but I couldn’t find a better word) attraction was our boat ride on the Ganges early in the morning of our last day’s stay there. I personally enjoyed the ride a lot, what with our boatsman narrating to us the story behind the construction of each ghat there. Suffice to say that it is the experience of a lifetime.

Varanasi has an old, rustic charm about it that is both enchanting as well as alluring. It does make sense to visit places such as this once in a while, more so because it is a totally different experience from the other places that one visits in India.

I finally left Varanasi with mixed feelings...elated on one hand at having finally visited and seen for myself the place about which I had heard since my childhood...extremely sorrowful on the other for having had to come there to perform the last rites of the one person who had given me this life and shaped it into all that it is worth today...

I don’t know if I will ever go back to Benares one day, but it will always hold a special place in my heart and life...till the end of my days.