Varanasi – Diwali in obredi ob reki Ganges / Varanasi – Diwali and ceremony by the river Ganges

Z Lukom potujeva po principu “Hitreje se navadiš na najslabše, lažje ti bo.” Tako sva na že tako zasedeno železniško relacijo Delhi – Varanasi odšla v času najpomembnejšega festivala Diwali. Festival luči. Praznujejo zmago luči nad temo, znanje nad neznanjem, dobro nad slabim in upanje nad obupom.

Ne glede na vnaprej rezervirano karto je bila gneča ogromna. Ne za evropejske standarde, ampak za indijske, ki so še nekajkrat večji. Policaji so z bambusovimi palicami udarjali po ljudeh, ki so se prerivali na robu postaje, da nebi kdo padel pod vlak. K sreči nama je Luka pravočasno rezerviral drugi razred AC (klima). V Indiji poznajo kar nekaj različnih cenovnih razredov vožnje z vlakom. Najbolj udoben je prvi razred AC (ločene kabine za štiri ljudi),  sledi drugi razred AC (dvonastropni pogradi vmes pregrade vendar brez ločenih kabin) ter tretji razred – t.i. “sleeper” ali spalnik (AC in brez AC, tronadstropni pograd, zelo malo prostora, namesto oken samo odprtina in železne prečke, ki se lahko tudi zaprejo z železno loputo). Temu sledi še najnižji in najcenejši razred, kjer sedišč sploh ni in se sedi na tleh. Razlika v cenah? Na najini 800 kilometrski relaciji sva za drugi razred plačala 10 evrov na osebo, medtem ko bi za tretji razred brez klime (spalnik) plačala približno 5 evrov na osebo. Višji razred kot si, več je evropejcev.

Varanasi. Mesto s 1 600 000 prebivalci (Delhi jih ima za primerjavo 16 000 000) je eno bolj svetih mest v Indiji. Poznano po religioznih obredih, ki se dogajajo ob reki Ganges, ki teče skozenj – sveti reki. Pišejo, da ni za ljudi z občutljivim želodcem. Mednje sodim tudi sama. Mesto naj bi bilo še bolj umazano od Delhija. Je to sploh možno? Je.

Vzdušje mesta v zelo praznovalnem duhu. Vsaka hiša svojo okrasitev z lučkami, trgovci vpijejo “Happy Diwali” v upanju, da bi kaj več prodali, notranjost restavracij in reka Ganges so polni svečk, ki ob večeru naredijo mesto kar malo romantično, kljub vsej umazaniji in neredu. Za zaključek večera pa še ognjemet!

Obredi, ki se dogajajo ob rekah so večerni in jutranji. Večerni obredi so sestavljeni iz molitve, poslednjega kopanja trupel v reki Ganges, ter zažiganje (upepelitev) le teh. Ostanke na koncu vržejo v reko. Fotografiranje je na tem mestu prepovedano. Počutila sva se rahlo morbidno, ko sva pila čaj in spremljala dogajanje. Ob zgodnjih urah, ko se pokaže sonce, na teh istih mestih poteka sveto kopanje. Domačini pridejo, da se očistijo grehov. Istočasno operejo tudi oblačila, posodo ter darujejo reki.

Varanasi ima posebno energijo in je čutiti spiritualnost mesta. Dnevni sprehod vzdolž reke ima svoj čar. Takrat je tu veliko manj ljudi, kot za primerjavo na ulicah znotraj mesta. Še bolj zanimiv pa je izlet z ladjico. Na motor ali vesla. Z motorjem si seveda hitrejši in več vidiš, vendar imaš na ladjici z vesli več časa za fotografije. Na izlet sva se odpravila za sončni vzhod in zahod. Zjutraj vzdolž reke, medtem ko zvečer prečkala reko na peščeno obrežje. Tudi tam se dogajajo rituali – molitve, kopanje, tudi za turiste poskrbijo, saj lahko plačaš uro jahanja. Srečala sva tudi mogočne vodne bivole ter sikhu-ja z udomačeno opico.

Kar je zanimivo v velikih mestih Indije je sončni vzhod in zahod, ki je popolnoma drugačen kot pri nas. Zaradi smoga in meglice je svetloba veliko bolj difuzna. Sončnih žarkov in jasnega modrega neba v teh dneh še nisem videla.

Brown Bread Bakery je ena boljših restavracij kjer sva jedla. Znana po izvrstnih sladicah in veliki izbiri sirov. Glede na veliko ponudbo in evropske cene sva poskusila le čokoladne piškote, ki so bili zelo okusni. Čutiti je bilo velik delež kakava in majhen delež sladkorja. Cena? Dva evra za osem piškotov. Poskusila sva tudi sendvič in jajca z lokalnim sirom. Dobila sva mlad sir, verjetno kravji. Poskusila sva tudi nekaj lokalnih indijskih restavracij z veliko nižjim cenam in bolj klasično hrano – masala dose.
Poleg hrane na ulicah ponujajo raznorazne storitve – britje, masaža in barvanje s kano. Pogosto ti bodo želeli prodati tudi “shiva power” (hašiš) ali opij. Uporabo le teh upravičujejo z raznimi religioznimi nameni. Kar se tiče drog imajo zelo strog zakon – minimalno deset let za kakršnokoli posredovanje, ne glede na vrsto droge. Ne vem pa, če se na vero lahko izgovoriš tudi na sodišču.

Ponovila bi besede, ki mi jih je izgovorila znanka – biti pripravljen na najslabše ni dovolj. V velikih mestih Indije je še slabše od tega. In res je. Svet, ki si ga ne znamo predstavljati. Varanasi je dvignil moje meje razumevanja in poznavanja sveta. Predvsem meje spoštovanja tega kar imamo, pa naj se sliši še tako patetično. Čas je, da se odpraviva dalje v hladnejše kraje.

Še pred tem 15-urni vlak. Ker sva prepozno rezervirala karte, sva dobila le tretji razred – spalnik. Oba pozitivna, da tokrat vsaj nebo gneče, sva se krepko zmotila.

///

We travel on the principle of “Sooner you get used to it, easier it is.” So we left Delhi train station and travel to Varanasi (between two important cities) on the busiest days – days of Diwali – festival of the light. They celebrate victory over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil and hope over despair.

Despite the fact that we booked the ticket a lot earlier, there was still extremely crowdy. Policemen were beating people with sticks to make them move from the very close of the edge where the train arrives. Luckily we got 2nd class ticket. You can buy 1st class ticket AC (the most comfortable one, with four people in seperated cabins), 2nd class ticket AC (two beds one above another, still quite comfortable) and 3th class AC or non AC tickets called “sleepers” with three beds in the vertical line which is quite crowdy. There is another class where you don’t have sitting places at all. We paid 10 euro for both, but sleeper class would cost about half price – 5 euro.

Varanasi. Town with 1 600 000 inhabitans (comparing to Delhi with 16 000 000 inhabitans). Known for its religious ceremony near river Gangi – the holy river. They say Varanasi is not for faint hearted. That counts me in too. Town should be even dirtier as Delhi – is this even possible? It is. We booked the room in Puja Guest House for 10 euro per night, the alternative was room with the view at Ganges for 15 euro per night.

The whole town was celebrating. The lights were making town a bit romantic in the evening. Street sellers were wishing Happy Diwali to the tourists hoping the will sell some more.

It’s quite interesting to book yourself a trip with boat. At sunrise and sunset ofcourse. View at the town is amazing, everything being watched from the distance and giving you opportunity to make a few photos of the ceremonies by the river – from creamating bodies at sunset, which is not allow to take pictures of, to morning holy bath which Indians take at the sunrise. We took boat both times – in the morning and in the evening. We didn’t take motor boats, which are recommended to see more, but non motor boats are much slower so you are able to take more photos of certain things.

Sunrise and sunset in India are a bit diffused – no direct light, because of all this smog and mist, which makes it interesting and a bit different.

Walked down to Assam ghat – the biggest ghat, takes you around 45 minutes and it’s really nice walk. There is not as much people as on the main streets and they regulary clean the dirt. It’s still not clean, but a bit less dirty.
Both evenings we sat down at the ceremony. Watching bodies being creamated and drinking tea is a bit morbid. After the body burnes, they throw everything in the river, holy river. Taking bath next morning is not something I would do myself. I’m not that spiritual. But it’s Indian’s morning ritual.

We got ourselves dinner at Brown Bread Bakery which is recommended by Lonely Planet as well. They have european standards of quallity and prices as well. We ate expensive cookies – but they were made of real cocoa, not to sweet and had fresh juice. First time in India I decided to drink freshly made juice. It’s interesting – there is the same named restaurant a few meters next to this – but they say the real one has four floors and restaurant at the balcony.

It’s easy to get your look done on the streets if you are man – barbers are all over. You can also get a massage or buy some “shiva power” also known as hashish or opium. Everything used for religious purposes ofcourse.

I would repeat words after a friend of mine – if you are prepared to see the worst, you will realize that bigger towns in India are even worse than this. Indeed. World that you cannot image unless you see it. Varanasi widen my undestanding and knowing the world. Most of all respect all the things that we have, no matter how pathetic this is. It’s time to move further to colder parts of India.

Before that we have to handle 15 hours train. Because we booked too late we got only sleeper 3rd class. And again – when you think you saw the crowd, here comes even crowdier.