“Namaste from India” – OR – “Religion is Business in Varanasi”

Our last station in Nepal was a very special one: Lumbini – birth place of Lord Buddha. After having seen the popularity of other holy places like Muktinath, we expected tons of pilgrims bursting out in enthusiasm at this site. But surprisingly, the contrary was true. There were nearly no pilgrims, only a very moderate amount of tourists and the place convinced us with its relaxed tranquillity. Contrasting other holy places, archaeological evidence suggests that Lumbini indeed might be the site where Buddha was born. It was visited by Buddhist believers in the first centuries after his death but then forgotten for over a millennium. Not before 1896 it was rediscovered and for about 30 years it is a so-called development zone: every nation can build a Buddhist temple here, so you get a good impression of the diversity of this religion’s architectures. You can find temples and pagodas from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam or Japan but also Germany and France. On the other hand, construction work is still in progress, it seems that the tradition still lacks. However, we really liked the quiet atmosphere and spent the days with three other travellers we met there, who in turn were international. All were doing an internship in Mumbai but they came from Mexico, Brazil and Turkey. And we stayed at the comfortable “Lumbini Village Lodge“. The next day we had to leave Nepal towards India and on the way to the border we conducted some research of tremendous importance. Whoever has asked how many people can fit into a car like a “Citroën Berlingo”, we now can provide the answer: 25 persons, if the roof is occupied by two huge backpacks …. but you need years of experience in taxi-tetris to achieve such a result! When we had come to Kathmandu, we were in a somehow paradox situation. After China and KL, we were a bit disappointed from the Nepalis, but all the travellers from India enthused of the sincerity and the warm-heartedness of them – at least compared to what is usual on the Indian sub-continent. So we crossed the border unexpectedly fast but with mixed feelings. The situation was comparable to our first day in China after Hong-Kong’s visa hassle. And, just like in China, we were extremely positively surprised. We took a fair-priced taxi to Gorakhpur and the first thing we noted was that in India, there are roads which actually deserve the name. Then at the first lunch, the other passengers kindly helped us with the order. But the best was still to come – the train ride from Gorakhpur to Varanasi. We bought a normal ticket for this 300 km ride. Travel time: 6 hours, price: 1 €, seat-reservation: are you kidding? So we ended up with 15 Indians in an 8 persons compartment, and when even more people wanted to join, they got really aggressive and nearly beat each other for the seats. But still, the journey was great. To us, everyone was super friendly and impressively curious – something we have barely experienced in Nepal. So before you enter an Indian train, in order not to seem ignorant, you should be well-informed about Carla Bruni, Karl Marx and Martin Luther, you should know all German Nobel-Prize laureates of the last one hundred years, you should be familiar with the transrapid’s technology and you should have in mind the European growth-rates, the average income, the unemployment ratio and the university fees. And be prepared to explain what you think about Hitler in 5 minutes. But we also learned a lot about Indian everyday-life, religion, economy, Gandhi and magic. In Nepal, problems began when money was involved – and in India it was the same story …. we had to prevent them from giving us money for dinner! When we finally arrived to Varanasi, one man organized the motor-rickshaw transfer to our guest-house and bargained a fair price for us. Despite of this really warm welcome, of course we have to admit that there was some truth in the other travellers’ perception. Yes, street vendors, hotels and restaurant staff want to cheat you even worse than in Nepal, and they can be extremely annoying. Rickshaw drivers also try to charge you the doubled price, there is high misery, the city is dirty and there is much waste everywhere, which is eaten by the ubiquitous cows (probably that’s the reason why they are seen as gods). Nevertheless, we liked Varanasi a lot. Varanasi is known as the religious center at the holy Ganges River and the main place where the dead are cremated. They believe that the cremation facilitates going to Nirvana if it takes place not more than 24 hours after the person had passed away. Because of this, many old and ill people are waiting for their death in Varanasi, collecting donations for the 300 kg of wood you need for the burning process. At the main temple, 300 persons are cremated every day, and this place is organized like a company, with the owner sitting at the entrance and maintaining a list. Watching the ceremonies was a bit more extreme than what we had seen in Pashupatinath, because many bodies were not even covered and because women were not allowed to join the mourning community. It is believed that the soul cannot go to Nirvana when someone nearby cries, further they want to prevent the wives from jumping onto the fire, which after their husband’s death used to be expected from them some time ago. Having said that many people try to cheat you, we shall add that this attitude prevails at religious sites. In fact, religion is business in Varanasi and priests or sadhus try to sell you religious services like benedictions, prayers, astrological forecasts or hand reading. Some also simply beg for donations or even provide their service without asking for permission before, demanding payment afterwards. According to these wise men, our Karma now is at the same level as the Greek debt burden. Interestingly, they always pray for very worldly means like wealth, money, tranquillity, health and love or other personal wishes. But still, all the prayers they had given us for free really worked. On the same day, Eintracht Frankfurt qualified for the Euroleague :-) Fortunately, Varanasi is not only a religious city. For most of the inhabitants, it is simply a town at a riverside, so why shouldn’t you go and take a bath in the Ganges? I decided to join them, but probably the Ganges is the only river where you can get cleaner by sweating after swimming in it. People go out just for a walk and literally DIRECTLY next to the main cremation site you can see children jumping into the water, screaming, shouting and having fun while forgetting the nearby ceremonies. This everyday-life was an unexpected side of Varanasi to us and probably the main reason why we keep our stay there in good memory.

3 thoughts on ““Namaste from India” – OR – “Religion is Business in Varanasi”

  1. Ça, c’est à la fois vraiment incroyable et rigolo, je veux dire: … “you should be well-informed about Carla Bruni, Karl Marx and Martin Luther, you should know all German Nobel-Prize laureates of the last one hundred years …”