Venerable Varanasi

Three hours journey by bus from Allahabad brought us to Varanasi, the ancient pilgrim centre. This place, whose existence has been mentioned in the Mahabharatha and Skandapurana at least 3000 years ago, is said to have possessed from times immemorial, a great spiritual quality, which had and has been attracting pilgrims from all parts of India. Both the place and Ganga on whose banks it exists are considered sacred and holy.

 Our programme of the day was to go to the Ganga and then to the temples.  We started from our guest house where we had lodged the previous night, at about 7:30 A.M. Here cycle-rickshaws and auto-rickshaws were the most common transportation services. Horse drawn carriages were rare. We hired rickshaws for going to the river. The cost of living in either Allahabad or Varanasi is very less comparatively than the southern cities. Varanasi, though a very old city, was not as old in appearance as Allahabad. The old and modern cultures had intertwined around the city giving it a distinct appearance. Though the buildings, vehicles etc. were modern, the city still retained the cultural basis, which it had inherited form the past.

 The Ganga at Varanasi flowed from south-west to north-east with the city situated on the north-west bank. The river having completed the greater part of its journey in the hills, slowed down and flowed peacefully forming meanders in the plains here. On the bank of Ganga were situated the various Ghats and Temples. One could see pandas (as the pundits are called) performing sacred rites all over the place.  The place was also strewn with wood and hay. The previous day being Vijayadasami, people had merged the images of Durga in the river. The images had been made of mud and hay and were kept upon wooden platforms. Now that the mud had been dissolved, the hay and the wood floated towards the banks. We   hired a boat to take us to the other bank. The ride in the boat was very exciting.  When the boat reached the centre, we could view almost the entire bank of Ganga which was shaped like a curve. This part of the city, near the banks of the Ganga really looked ancient. “A dip in the sacred Ganga and all your sins will be washed out” – is the legendary saying. Know not how much truth lies in it, but having a dip has become ritualistic. Another boat ride across the river and we were back.

Ganga 

A 15-20 minute walk through intricate narrow lanes led us to the temple of Lord Vishwanath. The temple is surrounded by shops selling flowers, coconuts, sweets etc. The temple is not the original one. The original temple was plundered and brought down by the Mughal king Aurangzeb. That was why the present temple was built in an area surrounded by houses and shops, so that it would not be conspicuous. This temple constructed in 1785 A.D. by queen Ahalya bai Holkar of Indore was later covered with gold by Raja Ranjit Singh of Punjab. The lingam inside the temple, the presiding deity Lord Vishwanath is placed a few feet below the ground level. After having a view or 'darshan' of Him, we moved towards the temple of Goddess Annapurna, which was close by. A bit farther was the temple of Goddess Visalakshi, which was built by a king of Tamilnadu and hence was in south Indian style.

Birla mandir at BHU

In the evening we went to have a look at the city. But that day the shops were all closed on account of “Bharat Milavat”, the day Bharat, the brother of Ram met him after 14 years of his exile. People there associate the festival of Dasara to the home coming of Ram. The festival itself is called Ramleela. On Maharnavami, an effigy of Ravana is burnt, which is called “Ravan Dahan”.  After having a look at the city we retired to the guest house for the night.

Our next destination was the Banaras Hindu University. The statue of Madan Mohan Malaviya, the founder, adorns the gateway of the B.H.U. Apart from the numerous colleges and educational institutions, there was a beautiful temple of marble built by the Birlas. The flooring and walls of the temple, the benches and seats outside were all of marble stone. The temple was two storeyed and contained the idol of panchamukha Shiva in one of the sanctum sanctorums while in the other was present the idol of Laxmi Narayana. The presence of this temple within the B.H.U. campus made the gates of the university open to one and all. 

From here, we made our way to Sarnath, the ancient buddhist centre.