Visiting India, Part Four

Flying from Kathmandu in Nepal on the morning of November 1, we arrived in Varanasi, India, where we had a unique experience witnessing a religious ceremony on the banks of the Ganges River.  For several thousand years, Varanasi has been and continues to be one of the holiest cities and places of pilgrimage for Hindus. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and probably the oldest in India.

 By rickshaw, we joined the crowds on the

street moving toward the Ganges River.

We were impressed with the way our driver pedaled

along zigzagging between motor bikes, tuk tuks, cars,

pedestrians, goats and cows.  Often times there

would be only inches separating us from the masses.

 

This was a popular form of transportation for the locals.

 Being this close to the equator may be the reason it

got dark so quickly in the early evening. 

Leaving our rickshaws, our route took us through 
narrow alleys lined with small shops as we followed 
the red pennant held high by Gale Lemmon, our tour escort.

Ten members of the tour group did take a wrong turn

and got separated from the rest of us, but fortunately

they were found and ended up in the right place.

Some local ladies shopping as we

passed by on our way to the river.

From a boat on the Ganges River, we watched the priests 
perform an Aarti Ceremony (Religious Prayer). 

The purpose of the aarti is "the waving of lighted wicks

before the deities in a spirit of humility and gratitude

wherein the faithful followers become immersed in

God's divine form."  It symbolizes the five elements:

ether, wind, fire, water, and earth.

 While it was still dark, we returned the next morning
to the same area on the Ganges River 
where we had been the night before; and

from a boat we watched the sunrise ceremony.

We lit our small "candles" and sent them afloat

on the Ganges River as others were doing.

The small flames were sent afloat to carry special wishes 

on the Ganges River, which is the most sacred river to Hindus.  

This river is worshiped as the goddess Ganga in Hinduism.

Some of the crowd had been here all night waiting

for the moment when the sun would first appear and

the ceremonial ritual would be completed by

those washing in the Ganges River and sending up

special wishes to bless husbands and sons.

The faithful are seen here watching for the first

sign of the sun.  Food is also part

of the ceremony, and some of the women

have special paint on their faces.

They began to shout as soon as they saw the sun,

and those in the water began to wash themselves.

Some ducked under the water while others

dipped water over their bodies.  

They also pay homage to their ancestors and to their gods 

by cupping the water in their hands, lifting it, 

and letting it fall back into the river.

 The sunrise ceremony is completed,

and many will carry cupfuls of the

sacred water home with them for use in rituals.

Although the Hindus consider the Ganges River

holy, it ranks among the top five most polluted rivers 

in the world with fecal coliform levels in the

river near Varanasi more than a hundred times

the official Indian government limits.

  Along the bank of the Ganges River are cremation

ghats, and the wood used for burning is seen in piles

here as well as the remains of the small fires.

Of course, cows are considered sacred, so I guess it is

fitting that they are free to forage along the

cremation area.

We don't know the significance of this fellow, but

there must be a good story here. 

 Singh was the regular guide on the yellow bus, but

he went with the group opting to go to Sarnath,

which is where Buddha gave his first sermon.

 

The Dhamekh Stupa at Sarnath in the background is 

128 feet high and 93 feet in diameter.

Archeological ruins are in the foreground. 

This is a replica of the five disciples who were 

Buddha's former companions.  
Following his "Enlightenment," Gautama Buddha 
gave his first sermon at Sarnath to the five monks.

 This Buddhist monk was sitting quietly

nearby the replica of the five monks.

Since this is the place where Buddha gave his

first sermon, Sarnath is a popular pilgrimage

site for Buddhists.

The Ashoka Pillar
During the Turk Islamic invasion, the top of this pillar, 
which had been erected in 250 BC, was broken off.
Called the "Lion Capital of Ashoka,"
 the top is now on display in the Sarnath museum. 
It has four back to back lions, which
has been adopted as the National Emblem of India.
Below the lions, are representations of a lion,
an elephant, a horse, and a bull, which is placed
on the center of the National Flag of India.

The name of this Buddhist temple is a long one:  
Mulagandhakuti Vihara.
This is where we saw large Buddhist murals on the walls.
We had to remove our shoes before going inside.

The Buddha inside the Mulagandhakuti Vihara.



One of the paintings inside the Mulagandhakuti Vihara.
Every important Buddhist deity is
associated in some way with the lotus, which is
shown under the feet of what I think is meant to
represent the newborn Buddha.

It is not unusual to see a woman hide her
face with her sari as this lady is doing.

In Varanasi, we stayed in the Taj Gateway, which Trip Advisor rates as #2 out of 50 hotels in Varanasi.  On November 2nd after finishing our tour of Varanasi, we took an afternoon flight to Delhi and then traveled by bus to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, where we stayed at the Taj Gateway Agra.  (Our visit to Agra will be the next blog entry.)

 

Visiting India and Nepal, Part Three

 

Leaving before breakfast on our second day in Nepal, we boarded a small Buddha Air passenger plane to begin our flight for a close view of the Himalaya Mountains and Mount Everest.

 We had light jackets for this early morning flight,

which was the only time we wore jackets during the

entire time we were in Nepal and India.

The Himalaya Range

We were lucky to have such a beautiful day for our flight.

A few days later, we saw on T.V. that tourists were unable

to make the flight due to adverse weather conditions.

Several weeks prior to our tour, we read about

a fatal Buddha Air crash of a similar plane with tourists on a flight 
to see Mt. Everest that resulted from poor visibility.

Looking up at Mount Everest from the cockpit of our small plane

was a memorable experience.

Mount Everest in the Himalayas is the highest mountain

in the world with a peak of 29,029 feet above sea level.

Returning to Kathmandu, we had breakfast about 9:00 a.m. and then our tour group went by bus to tour the area.  We were with the "red bus" group, and the others were known as the "yellow bus" group based on the colored sign in the bus window rather than the color of the bus.

Kathmandu is the capital and the largest city of Nepal.  We had a full day of sightseeing starting with our Mount Everest flight, then visiting Kathmandu's Durbar Square, riding in a rickshaw, driving by bus through a countryside with planted fields, watching ladies cleaning and drying rice, and seeing historical Bhaktapur.  

Following are some photos from Kathmandu's Durbar Square.  A Durbar Square is the generic name used to describe plazas opposite old royal palaces in Nepal.

 

 Our guide in Nepal standing by a Garuda statue

in Kathmandu's Durbar Square.

Taleju Temple (1564)
It is not open to the public and even Hindus can
visit only briefly during the annual Dasain festival.
Although not apparent from this view, this temple
dominates the Durbar Square area, as it stands on a
12-stage plinth or platform and is about 110 feet tall.

We left this area by rickshaw and 

then boarded our bus to go to Bhaktapur.

 

 Traveling along in the bus, we saw small fields of crops.

 We walked through a small village where women

were cleaning and drying piles of rice.

Walking back to the bus on a different path,

we saw these water buffalo.

Souvenirs for sale.  On the end of the table are some singing bowls 

similar to the two we bought in another area.

 

Bhaktapur, about 13 miles from Kathmandu, is also known as "Nepal's Cultural Gem" and "City of Devotees."  It was added to the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1979.  The next pictures were taken in Bhaktapur.  

  Nyatapola Temple

in Taumadhi Square in Bhaktapur (1702). 
 It is the highest temple in Nepal.  

Guardian figures are on the stairway leading to the temple, 

and at each level the figures are said to be 

ten times as strong as those on the level below.

The bottom level has the legendary Rajput wrestlers, 

with elephants on the next level followed by

lions, griffins, and finally two goddesses.

 Vatsala Temple (1672)

Although most of the monuments in Bhaktapur's Durbar Square

are terra-cotta with carved wooden columns, 

this temple is made of stone.

  Much of Bernardo Bertolucci's movie "Little Buddha" 

was filmed near the Vatsala Temple. 

 The Golden Gate 

in Bhaktapur's Durbar Square (completed in 1756) 

is actually made of brass, and is one of the most important

pieces of art in the Kathmandu Valley.  

Inside the gate is the "Palace of 55 Windows."

Palace of 55 Windows on the left.

It is not permitted to take a photo of the

Living Goddess (or "Kumaro") when she appears at scheduled

times in an upper window.  

The Living Goddess is chosen from poor girls ages 4 to 7 who are judged on 32 attributes of perfection, and then she is tested further to determine if she will remain calm in a darkened room with buffalo heads, demon-like masked dancers, and terrible noises. Once chosen, she is entitled to sit on the throne of the Living Goddess until she reaches puberty.  At that time, she changes back to the status of being a "normal girl" and the search is on to find another Kumaro.

 Naga Pokhari (Snake Pond)

by the Palace of 55 Windows.

It is a 17th century water tank encircled by a stone cobra

with cobra heads rising up on pillars.

This open air market appears to be for locals rather than tourists.

It was a common sight to see slender men carrying huge 

loads on their backs this way. 

 More heavy loads with straps crossing the upper forehead.

Quite a few signs are in English even though many

natives did not seem to know English.  
Napali is the national language.

The Nepal flag is the only national flag that is not rectangular

or square.  It is composed of two pennants that represent the

two rival branches of the Rana dynasty which formerly 

ruled the country.  They were first joined in the last century,

but it was not adopted as the official flag until 1962.



 Boudhanath Stupa (temple),
one of the holiest Buddhist sites in Kathmandu and
one of the largest spherical stupas in Nepal.
 We watched the devout always walking clockwise to 
keep good karma, as they made one or more trips around 
the stupa while turning their small prayer wheels.

Hinduism is the main religion of Nepal with about 80% of the people being Hindu and about 10% calling themselves Buddhists.  However, there has been a lot of intermingling of the two beliefs.  In fact, many Hindus worship at Buddhist temples, and Buddhists often worship at Hindu temples.  The difference in their beliefs has become very subtle, and they have no religious conflicts.

These monks are part of the crowd walking near the stupa

(on their right).  That evening we walked from our hotel 

to eat in a nearby restaurant across from the stupa.

  We visited an art school where they were painting and selling
Thangka art and saw a demonstration and artists at work.
This is a Nepalese art form of intricate painting usually
on cotton or silk depicting a Buddhist deity, 
famous scene, or mandala of some sort.

The next morning, we went to the Bagmati River, which is considered as holy as the Ganges.

 Cremation goes throughout the days and nights on the bank

of the Bagmati River.

 

Yes, those are feet.

According to Nepalese Hindu tradition, the dead body must

be dipped three times in the Bagmati River before cremation.

The chief mourner (usually the first son) who lights the

funeral pyre, must take a holy river-water bath immediately

after the cremation.  Many relatives who join the funeral

procession also take a bath in the Bagmati River or sprinkle

water on their bodies at the end of cremation.  

Some of the ashes are put into the river.  The Bagmati

River is considered to purify the people spiritually.

On the opposite bank of the Bagmati River, rituals were

being conducted with colored paints, which

we understood were in honor of ancestors.

Another group involved with their ancestral ritual.

Although the Bagmati River is considered holy by
both the Hindu and the Buddhists, it is not very clean
and is polluted by untreated sewage and garbage.
The cremation platforms can be seen at the right. 

On a brighter note, these children are having fun with

this unique swing.

Leaving Nepal, we flew from Kathmandu to Varanasi in India (next blog entry).