Part Two of Three
[Read Part One here]
Kashi — first glimpses
Dilip had a friend at BHU, Professor Yadavji, an extremely kind and well learned person. He agreed to take us to the temple. Met him at the gates of the temple, and we went in to have a darshan of the deity, a few glimpses it were, but for which masses come to Kashi from far and wide. No photos allowed due to security reasons. Post the Darshan, we promised to meet the professor at his university in the afternoon and proceed back to the hotel for breakfast.
After a sumptous breakfast, with live musical performance, heart and stomach full and beaming we started for our first glimpses of Kashi using a private taxi rather than taking our car. First stop was the Ramnagar Fort situated right at the banks of Ganga.
Then we had a quick lassi from the famous lassi walas, and then reached Assighat, took a quick walk taking in the sights, smell and sound of Varanasi.
The walk through the small alleys was indeed a good experience with occasional detours to different Ghats reaching Assighat where you can see partly red-painted pole with platforms for the famed Ganga Aarti. The one in Dashashwamedha Ghat is more popular and we decided to go there in the evening. Anyway for now, found out a good restaurant “Roots” on the banks of Ganga and refuelled ourselves for post noon plans.
Kashi hindu vishwavidyalaya — a world within
Or Benares Hindu University with its more than a century old history, sprawling campus and more than thirty seven thousand students is a well-planned city oasis within the city insulated from all the din of Kashi. BHU indeed was something I’ve heard many times, with a close cousin of mine having studied at the IIT inside and another one of my better half having studied in their medical college.
We met the Professor at the BHU temple . Post, we visited his lab in Agricultural sciences, where he explained the wonderful world that is hidden beneath the soil and how the research contributes to the enhanced food production in the Nation using DNA analysis. It was indeed an eye-opener for us. Dilip nudged me telling that its time for Ganga Aarti, so reluctant I was, but still stopped the discussion and then we met the Professor’s lovely family after a short driving tour of the internal campus. Highly educated, but humble to the core, were his children, thanks to their upbringing, we could immediately sense that the Professor is indeed blessed. Spending quite some time with their family, we left back to the hotel deciding to go for Aarti the next day, with Dilip reasserting his friendship and I adding a new friend to my list, ending a day well spent.
Sarnath
Sarnath — a holy place of Buddhism was the first thing on the agenda in the morning. Reached there, hired a guide where he took through the monuments and explained the history of Buddha — not wanting to repeat here as I am not sure how much of what he said is correct — Anyway, it indeed was entertaining, to say the least.
National Emblem is taken from the monument which can be seen at the Sarnath Museum. Photography prohibited there. However, never miss the museum — a well kept one. And thanks to Archaeological Survey of India, for keeping these places spic and span. Exhausted, but enthusiastic, we parted ways with our guide while we were shopping for “local” goods, and headed for a good lunch before heading to Assighat for fixing a PitrTarpan [Last Rites] for Dilip’s father.
Reaching Assighat, we found a “Panda” — a priest for doing the Pinda Daan. This turned out to be a little unexpected when the person was demanding an exhorbitant sum and we decided not to deal with them and started walking. Just then another one offered to do this at a cost akin to the amounts normally given and fixed the appointment for next day early morning. And now off to yet another highlight of the trip, the Ganga Aarti.
Ganga Aarti
Dashashwamedh Ghat indeed is the place crowds throng to witness the much popularized Ganga Aarti. The street leading to the ghat was wearing a festive look.
Our Taxi driver had arranged a seat in one of the boats near the Aarti and we were thrilled to find that it had an upper deck :) And then began the Aarti….
To give you an idea about the time, be prepared to be seated by around six thirty PM with the Aarti starting around in fifteen minutes running for around forty five minutes. And for those of you who are not satisfied with just the photos, here are a few videos — pardon the amateur recordings..
Wow! What an experience it was! we waited for the crowd to ease a little and proceeded past the one of entry gates of the temple to meet the Professor to bid him farewell.
Paan benarasi
“Come to Lanka”, instructed the Professor over phone to our driver and he obliged. Little did we know that he had a surprise for us.
“You should not leave Benares without having the legendary “Benarasi Paan”, he said. Or was it an order? Anyway, we followed and he took us to a very clean and nice shop, and we later found out that the Prime Minister himself was a customer .
Though we were apprehensive initially, it should be said that the Paan indeed was quite good and had a soothing effect for the stomach. It also had a familiar lingering taste — Digene? hmm, my friend smiled and said, “Yep, the ingredients are common” — Next time let me happily trade in for a paan :)
With the famous tune of Khayike Paan Banaras Wala in our minds, we retired to the comfort of our hotel for the last night in Benares with memories galore to prepare for the return journey the next day…
