A few days in Varanasi
One of our main goals was to visit Varanasi (Benares) and
we were glad that we fitted it in to this trip. The ghats
are one of the main focusses of Varanasi and we went down
to the ghats on foot and also did the 'tourist thing' which
is a dawn boat ride on the Ganges. At dawn, many Hindus
come down to the Ganges for a morning ritual bath and to
pray. Varanasi is to Hindus as Mecca is to Muslims. There
are more Hindu religious tourists in the city than
non-Hindus.
We also were fortunate to be in Varanasi during Diwali, and
we were able to visit a religious Hindu family who very
kindly invited us into their home on the BHU campus,
included us in their Diwali family Puja ceremony and then
the meal, lights and fireworks afterward. We travelled a
short distance out of town to Sarnath, which is a place of
pilgrimage for Buddhists. It was at Sarnath, that the
Buddha gave his first sermon. Finally we visited BHU campus
(Benares Hindu University) and also the Bharat Mata- a
temple with a relief map of all of India.
The Varanasi photos have been divided into two groups:
Click this link for a slide
show of 52 photos from part one of the Varanasi section
of our trip
Click this link for a slide
show of 29 photos from part two of the Varanasi section
of our trip