The Ganga in Varanasi

The Ganga has become a very special river to me, now that I have been on the it's banks and bathe it in its holy waters. Until this experience I knew the Ganga for its symbolic significance. However, after experiencing the tangible spiritual vibration that this river emanates, it is like no river I have ever experienced in my life.

Since the first time I set my eyes on Mother Ganga, spiritual bliss overwhelmed me. It is the same bliss that I feel when I meditate. However, here, just standing by the river, I can feel this warm spiritual energy emanating from it and resonating within myself. This is a special river, unlike other rivers. It is not merely a grand symbol of Hinduism steeped in mythical lore. The Ganga is a spiritual powerhouse of a way of life that are the Eternal Truths of Life, Sanatana Dharma.

These are my recollections of my journey to Varanasi, one of the most ancient living cities in the world.

Video Collage of Scenes from Varanasi

In Hinduism Ganga is deified as a Goddess. She issues forth from God, landing in the Himalayas and then flows across the Northern Indian subcontinent. There are many myths surrounding her origin, suffice to say they all exalt her life giving and spiritually purifying influence.

The city of Varanasi is situated in midway on the path of the Ganga as she traverses the Indian subcontinent to empty her contents into the Bay of Bengal.

In Varanasi two rivers, the Varuna and the Assi river converges with Ganga. Hence the name of this city, Varanasi (pronounced Vaa-ranasi).

The 81 bathing ghats, that are on the Western bank of the Ganga in Varanasi, stretch from the confluence of the Varuna with Ganga for about seven kilometers. Many of these ghats have existed since ancient times, though most have been built by Maharajas in the last 500 years.

Each ghat has a name and history behind them. All of Hinduism's varied culture and traditions are represented in the microcosm of Varanasi. As one walks from start to end on the ghats one can see representations in architecture and practice of Hinduism from all the regions in India and Nepal.

Every day pilgrims arrive from all parts of India to be touched by Mother Ganga. Her waters are said to be able to dissolve sins or bad karmas of the past.

The ghats are the most lively in the morning, with pilgrims and locals coming to perform the morning religious ritual of thanks giving, the Sandhya Vandanam. Pundits chant and prepare themselves to perform rites, mainly obsequies for ancestors of the pilgrims who arrive.

Row boats filled with pilgrims and tourists traverse the ghats. It is a popular sight seeing activity in Varanasi, the dawn boat ride.

For many, visiting Varanasi is a life changing experience. A catalyst for this are the cremation ghats. This is the only place in the world where final rites for person are done in public. Day in, day out funeral pyres burn, even amidst festivities and people enjoying themselves on adjacent ghats.

The contrast of human life and experience that can be witnessed as one passes from one ghat to the next is possibly one of the most unique experience of the Ganga at Varanasi. An experience that can have as varied a meaning for as many people who walk the ghats by Mother Ganga at Varanasi.