February 29, 2016

February 29, 2016

Last night we got back to the hotel late, so we just had some snacks in our hotel room for dinner.  Our suitcases are full of peanut butter, crackers, chocolate, and granola bars because we didn’t know what the food situation would be like.  We need to start eating some of it up to lighten our load.

We were early to bed last night because we have a 5:00 am wake-up call today. Thirty minutes later we are out the door and the bus takes us back to the Ghats (steps) of the Ganges,  This time a young boy rows us slowly upriver as the sky gets lighter.  Our guide explains that the local ruler allowed other regional kings to build homes along the river so their subjects could pilgrimage here. We disembark at a spot where many Hindus have come to bathe in the holy waters of the Ganges. Nearby is another cremation site with one pyre burning. From this vantage we watch the sun rise over the Ganges in a ball of blazing orange.

Our bus meets us and drives us through Banaras Hindu University to the new Vishwanath Temple. This temple is dedicated to the god Shiva.  In the center of this Hindu temple is the Shiva Linga, a male and female phallic symbolizing fertility and rebirth. A crowd of Hindus are dropping offerings of flowers and milk atop it.

Back at the hotel, we eat a late breakfast while watching the Oscars live on an overhead TV.  It is then back on the bus for the drive to nearby Sarnath.  This site is famous for being the spot where Buddha taught his first sermon.  Our guide gave us a rundown on the life of Prince Siddhartha and how he came to be Buddha, the Enlightened One.  Buddhism never made it big in India but spread forcefully through China and Japan.  The Buddhist Temple on the site is relatively modern but is a major pilgrimage location.

Next door is an archeological museum of the relics found when the British excavated the original temples on the site.  It has lots of ancient Buddha statues but the most famous relic is the 2300 year old Lion Capital of Ashoka that is now the national emblem of India.
 

The girls on the tour all want to shop so our guide took us to a silk factory. After demonstrating traditional weaving techniques, Aimee got a lesson on how to put on a Sari.  It is basically just six yards of colorful fabric that one skillfully wraps around oneself.  It is not easy.

Back at the hotel after a long day, we rested by the pool and had a beer. Our hotel has a park-size garden filled with colorful flowers and is truly an oasis from the dense urban life of India. I learn this used to be the grounds of an old palace. I guess I am living the life of a modern Maharaja.