22nd November 2015 - Varanasi to Kanpur

We had no intention to stop at Kanpur, our original intention was to drive straight from Varanasi to Agra. However, when we realised that it gets dark quite early as winter draws close we thought it better to include one more stop between Agra and Varanasi. Kanpur was the candidate.

Allahabad was on the way to Kanpur but too close to Varanasi to merit a night stop. So Kanpur it was.  The drive from Varanasi to Kanpur was rather uneventful, the roads were good but nothing to write about. The people remain the same the only thing that separates them is the distance, the same careless attitude, whether it be lorries, cars, pedestrians, it is not that they do not care for their lives but the need is to demonstrate courage and arrogance and believe that nothing will happen. So what if a few people lose their lives in trying to prove that they do not care?

The Allahabad Bye Pass is a long one and almost at its end is a bridge over the Sangam.

Kanpur as a city does not impress, it is dirty, crowded and very very dusty and carried on its shoulder the disdain and arrogance and who the heck are you? Attitude. At a traffic signal we heard a loud siren and started moving towards the left to make what we thought would be an ambulance or a police car. What came was neither, it was Mahindra XUV 500 and at the flag post in front of the car was a political party’s flag.

The roads that we had to navigate to our hotel did not leave us with a deep impression of the city, it was much like Varanasi, Gaya and this was no great surprise as we were not expecting much from this city.

Though a Sunday some traffic signals did have lot of traffic and actually in one we had to wait for over 40 minutes to move.

We decided not to move out of the Hotel.

23rd November - Kanpur to Agra

 We had our breakfast packed and commenced our journey much earlier than originally planned.To make things easier for us we decided to see the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort on the same day we arrive at Agra.

We left behind Kanpur at 7:45 Am and reached Agra at about 1 PM.

On the road we realised there were no more surprises on the road, no more guns, no more pedestrians throwing a threatening glance at you, no more very rash driving.

While entering Agra we contacted a member of the HVK group on facebook who was a great help. He told us road that we could take which not be crowded and with less traffic we did save a bit of time. He had arranged for a local guide who would take us to the Taj and Fort. Once we checked into the Hotel we went off for lunch at the Dasaprakash and then went to the Taj, The VIP car park has capacity for a large number of cars ad one can easily find space. As vehicles are not allowed close to the monument one has to take a battery operated bus or cart to the entrance the cost is either Rs10 or Rs20.

As was expected the Taj left us in awe and though tired we were happy to spend a little extra time walking around. The fort was given a miss as we were told tat the Military was in occupation of the Fort ad that only a small portion was open to visitors. Back to the Hotel and some rest.

Later in the evening we went to the Agra Club to meet up with Sanjeev who had helped us with directions and arrangements for visiting the Taj Mahal. He went to a bit of trouble to guide us on our journey the next day through Mathura and Vrindavan and on to Delhi. A fine guy.

21st November - Varanasi

We were up at 5 AM and got ready as Dibesh had said that he will come to fetch us at 5:30, the plan was to go to the Ghats again for the morning Ganga Aarthi and then on a boat ride to witness the sunrise while we go along the banks of the Ganges viewing the many ghats along the river. Then we are to get off at the Manikarnika Ghat (cremation ghat) and walk to the Kasi Viswanathar temple.

There is so much to see and experience in this ancient city and it would appropriate to spare a few days here to ensure a complete experience.

The boat ride over we started walking up the Manikarnika ghats and were told that photography is not allowed in the cremation ghats, so we put our cameras away and got onto the narrow lanes that make Varanasi. The many narrow lanes and the crowd and the very hig securoty levels at the temple made it a harrowing and claustrophobic experience. A cup of tea for each of us served in Kullads helped just before we walked into the temple. The temple sanctun sanctorum is a small basin of about 6 feet diameter in which is a lingam, to which the millions who visit the temple pray. We poured the mug of milk that we had purchased for this purpose said our prayers and moved and this before we were pushed away by force to make way for others.

After breakfast at the Hotel we took an auto and went off in search of Aghoris, however we did not find any but did visit the Keenaram Babus ashram for Aghoris, after the Ashram we went to another Ashramkashi Mumkshu Bhavan Sabha at Assi, the elderly from various parts of India come here and wait till they die. The elders are taken care of well till their time comes.

Our next stop was the Harishchandra Ghats, another cremation ghats where we saw a couple of bodies being cremated, the amount of firewood that is used in the ghats is amazing. Most people use the traditional method of cremation rather than the electric crematorium.

Ganga Mahotsav and Dev Deepavali commence tomorrow in varanasi and to join in on the celebrations here over 200000 people I am told have come into Varanasi. No hotel rooms are available and the rush is great, this also means that the ghats will have large numbers of people. The highlight of the festival is on the last day, when more than a million clay lamps are floated down the river at dusk amidst chanting of Vedic hymns as part of Dev Deepavali.

Clay pots eing sold at Harishchandra ghats for the last rites to be carried out before cremation

Shuvkumar Chouhan our Auto driver

A common sign in Varanasi

An ashram in Varanasi to which the elderly from many parts of India and wait here to die.

Tea in Kullad just outside the Kasi Viswanathar temple

Lane in Varanasi

20th November 2015 - Bodh Gaya to Varanasi

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Fresh fruits at our Hotel at Bodh Gaya - Only the small apples are really fruits the rest are wax :)

Horse drawn carriages outside the Maha Bodhi temple.

Near the road side market, Why these horses sport such colours? I don't know.

The old anf inform make the Maha Bodhi temple.

There were vendors on the road selling Buddhist handicrafts and others selling the regular stuff one sees in a temple market. Only a handful of vendors had anything of quality or interesting to offer. With nothing much to keep us here we started the next step of our journey.

Stalls sell a multitude of things at the roads leading to Maha Bodhi temple.

There were quite a few beggars at the entrance and almost all of them were physically disabled, some with arms and legs crooked, giving the impression that the limb was broken and not allowed to mend or allowed to mend in a crooked fashion so as to attract attention and bring in more alms. The world can be cruel.

Mutilated bodies are common at the entrance to the Maha Bodhi temple. Was the mutilation managed by someone who wanted to make money out of these people?

The Maha Bodhi temple is sacred to Buddhists it is here in Bodh Gaya that he attained enlightenment and under a Bodhi tree which exists or trees from its cuttings exist even today. The temple here has been built to mark the enlightenment of Buddha and is visited by Buddhists from around the world. There were so many people from the Orient that it was difficult for us to assign nationalities.

The temple complex is not very large. Pilgrims seemed to have been sleeping within the temple complex as we could see sleeping bags, mosquito nets, pillows, beds on the lawns. There was a conference going on and maybe these people had come here to attend the conference nd were allowed to sleep here. There was a Nepalese woman doing the Parikrama of the temple in their traditional way, she would prostrate, then get up and walk for three paces and then prostrate again, this continued till she went around the temple. If one does not intend to go inside the temple then footwear can be worn around the temple complex. No restrictions on photography but no mobiles, MP3 players, obviously disturbance by noise is not acceptable. There is a fee for cameras though the entrance is free.

At the entrance to the temple

Maha Bodhi temple

Pilgrims, with a wooden plank on which they prostrate stand and then prostrate again and again.

Pilgrims from all over the Budhist world.

Stand, prostrate and then stand again, lift your hand in prayer above your head, take three steps and repaet all over again to make circumambulations around the temple in penance.

Varanasi was not a long distance away but the traffic and the impatient and careless two wheelrs, drivers and pedestrians ensured that we drove slow. The condition of the roads too contributed to the slow pace we were forced to keep.

Luckily we were prepared for food as we had cooked some rice and the curds we had purchased the previous night at Bodh Gaya put together made some delightful curd rice which could be had on the highway.

There were a lot of people in the Varanasi because of the Karthika month and the upcoming Nethra Deepavalli on the 22nd.

Just out of Varansi this guy was riding this motorcycle with two women behind him. He was sitting on the petrol tank of the motor cycle.

Cows eating plastic is a common sight in Varanasi, another way to kill a cow.

Protection from the heavy pollution in Varanasi.

Vehicles move so close to each other it is a wonder that there are not so many accidents.

Once we checked into our Hotel we swiftly got in touch with our contacts here and made arrangements for the next day. walked out of the Hotel took 2 Autorickshaws and went to the Dasashwamedha Ghats for the Ganga Aarthi. We were able to witness the closing part of the Aarthi and then walked around the crowded roads, did some window shopping and took in the various sights that were presented to us. Shops selling Chillums, various Hindu religious materials, Sadhus walking around, pilgrims from all over the Country and visitors from around the world curious and hanging around to understand what was happening before them. Vehicles are not allowed on the road leading to the Ghat so we had to walk about 500 metres to the ghat, BUT we were surprised to see two wheelers on that road beinf driven quite fast considering the large number of people on the road. The lights, colours, shops, eateries was engaging. We returned to the Hotel qute early as we had fixed to leave very early the  next morning on a boat ride to see the sunrise from the Ganges and to visit the Kasi Viswanathar temple.

The road going towards Dasaswamedha Ghats, crowded and polluted.

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The road leading to Dasaswamedha ghats - no vehicles allowed only pedestrians

`Ganga Aarthi

Devotees

This Sadhu got upset that I took his picture without giving him money, was obviously popular with the crowd as many people came over to him to get his blessings, was it because of his makeover?

Umbrellas at the ghat

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