रविवार, 3 अगस्त 2014

Varanasi and the Manikarnika Ghat - History and Travel Guide




Along a 7-kilometer (4-mile) stretch of the Ganges, you see ghats (wide stairways that lead down to the sac red river). 84 sets of these stone steps wed the great metropolis to the Ganga. The numerous lingas remind pilgrims that they are under Shiva's care here. The best time to visit the ghats is at early dawn, when a solemn multitude of people and even animals - lit by the sun's first rays - all move in one direction, bent on immersion in the holy stream. As you float on the river, you'll see young men performing vigorous hatha yoga exercises; older men sitting cross-legged in the lotus position, eyes closed in deep meditation; and Brahmin priests offering prayers while sitting under huge umbrellas. Devotees drink from the polluted water. A carcass may even float by. Women glide in and out of saris with finesse. Others beat and swoosh linen against the stone, purifying the clothes they wear.
Manikarnika Ghat
Thin blue smoke twists up to the sky from fires on the Manikarnika Ghat, the chief cremation center of Varanasi (the smaller cremation ghat is called Harish Chandra Ghat). Corpses wrapped in silk or linen - traditionally white for men and red for women - are carried on bamboo stretchers to the smoking pyres, where they are deposited and wait their turn. First, they are immersed in the Ganga and then, after a short wait, are placed on the pyre for the ritual that precedes the cremation. These funeral ghats cannot be photographed, but you are allowed to watch. Manikarnika is popularly considered the holiest of all the ghats. Every pilgrim will try to include this and the Dashashvamedha Ghat in his daily round of the city's shrines. Legend has it that the Lord Shiva passed here in a frenzy, because of the death of his wife Sati, who had immolated herself because her father had insulted Shiva. She was slung over his shoulder. As he passed Banaras, Sati's earring fell off and landed in the well above the ghat. The brahmins managed to salvage the jewel (manikarnika) from the earring, and returned it to Shiva, who was so delighted that he blessed the place to be especially sacred ever after. The tank remains a great pilgrimage spot; offerings of bilva flowers (sacred to Shiva), milk, sandalwood, and sweetmeats are thrown into it. Between the well and the ghat is a stone pedestal, on the marble top of which are two imprints, believed to be the footprints of Lord Vishnu. To be cremated here is the special privilege of only a few families.
Corpses are laid on the ghat ready for the flames. The dams carry huge baskets of smoking ashes down to the water's edge. Even if he is not fortunate enough to die in Banaras, a good Hindu will urge his relatives to bring his ashes here and scatter them in the river so as to speed the process of rebirth. There is no attempt to prolong the existence of what is only a physical shell; the impermanent is purified by fire, and the soul is set free. Everything is very matter-of-fact; there is no fuss. Dams , dogs, and mourners all mix together, as the inevitable round of life and death goes on. Strange ascetics are seen here - the Aghoris. They use cremation grounds as their places of meditation and are reputed to indulge in fearful rituals with corpses and the spirits of the deceased. Even these wild-looking magicians are part of the scene with their matted hair piled up and their bodies smeared with ashes. As a tribute to Shiva, Lord of Death, the ghats seem to be crumbling before your very eyes. Temples lie half-submerged in the river; the steps are covered by little shrines and stones that mark the places of sati, where a pious wife immolated herself on her husband's pyre in emulation of Sati's suicide.
The whole place breathes impermanence. Yet despite the drifting smoke, the wheeling kites, and the logs piled up like stacks of grotesquely contorted limbs, there is nothing morbid here. just a sobering sense of inevitability and the fact that life goes on, no matter how many individuals die.

Dashashwamedh Ghat
Dashashwamedh Ghat gets its name from one of the most ancient legends of Kashi. Long ago, the world was suffering from a terrible drought that threatened to destroy the very planet. Brahma, the god of creation, realized that there was only one being on earth who had the ability to res tore order to the world, a wise king called Divodasa, who had renounced his throne to spend his days in meditation on the banks of the Ganges at Kashi. Divodasa agreed to accept the kingship of the earth only on the condition that all the gods retired from Kashi so he could go about his task unhindred by thirr interference. Even the great Lord Shiva, who loved the city as his life, was forced to leave. Shiva brooded on his exile. He eventually realized that if Divodasa could be proved to be lacking in kingly or ritual expertise, then the gods would have the right to return to Kashi and Shiva would once again rule the city. So he sent Brahma, in the form of a brahmin priest, to Divodasa's court and had him request the king to be the patron of an extremely powerful and complicated vedic ritual consisting of ten (dash) simultaneous horse sacrifices (ashwamedha). The wily Shiva was confident that the king would make some mistake in such an enormous undertaking, for it is the patron's job to provide all the ingredients and see that all the arrangements are perfect. But Divodasa played his part flawlessly, and Shiva's plan was thwarted. The sacrifice was performed, with Brahma as chief priest, on what is now known as Dashashvamedha Ghat - "The place of the Ten Horse Sacrifices." Since then it has become one of the most sacred tirthas, and it is believed that bathing here gains almost as much religious merit as performing the sacrifice itself.
Here on the ghat all India is present in microcosm. The steps are already alive with saris - red, orange, green, blue - brilliant in the soft, clear light. The place bustles with activity, cows, people, flowers, goats, pigeons, incense, crows. The air is filled with the sound of bells, prayers, and sonorous chanting. All mingle together in a gently undulating tableau that has been reenacted every morning since the beginning of time. Down in the water crowds jostle as they perform the ritual bath and offer their worship to the rising sun. Now it is a huge red ball just peeping over the horizon and casting its golden glint upon the water. Some are standing with hands folded in supplication; others hold brass pots aloft, offering Ganges water to the sun; others sit in rapt contemplation, red and orange prayer shawls around their shoulders. All are absorbed in their own, intensely personal worship, yet the whole tableau has a sense of unity. Each separate individual knows his place and what he is doing here. The movement is orderly, unhurried , and, above all, purposeful. India loves ritual and repetition; nowhere is this love more clearly demonstrated.
Kedara Ghat
Farther south is Kedara Ghat, dominated by a Shiva temple painted in faded candy stripes of terracotta and white. Here is also the palace of the southern Indian Maharaja of Vijayanagar. The ghat takes its name from the famous pilgrimage spot Kedarnath, high in the Himalayas. It is especially popular with the Bengali and southern Indian communities that inhabit this part of the city. The women have characteristic Bengali saris, colored plain with a very wide decorated border. Halfway down the steps is a tank, called "the Well of Gauri" ("the White One," another name for Parvati), which is thought to have healing properties. The steps are covered with picturesque stone lingas. Mondays-sacred to Shiva-are always busy here, especially in the holy monsoon month of Shravana (July-August).
Harishchandra Ghat
Past an orange Hanuman and Ganesha at the water's edge, you come to Harishchandra Ghat, one of the most holy. Harishchandra was a king famous for never telling a lie and never refusing a guest. He worshipped Brahma. One day Indra, in one of his interminable arguments with the creator god, taunted him that Harishchandra's devotion was only skin deep. Brahma protested and, to prove the king's unshakable loyalty, resolved to test him. He disguised himself as a wandering brahmin priest and approached the king asking for alms. He asked for Harishchandra's entire kingdom. The king gave it. Then, in order to pay the customary fee Harishchandra was forced to become a servant to the chief of the Banaras crematorium. His wife was sold to a flower seller. Then their son died of snakebite. The grieving woman took him to the burning ghat, where her husband was employed. Having no money to pay the cremation fee, she ripped her sari in half and gave half to the undertakers. Even Indra was impressed by such unflinching acts of devotion, and he ruefully admitted that he had lost his wager. Whereupon Brahma immediately restored the child to life and declared that not only would the king have his kingdom back, but the ghat would become especially sacred and be named after him. The ghat is often considered the most sacred for cremation, but the other cremation ghat, Manikarnika, which is north of Dashashwamedh, is in fact more popular. Here at Harishchandra you can see the wood piled up for the pyres in front of a green-and-black-striped Shiva temple. Towering behind is the blue and green top of the high gateway (gopuram) of a southern Indian temple, quite different in style from the ones in the north. This area caters to pilgrims from the south.
Asi Ghat
The turning point in your trip is Asi Ghat. Beyond this stands a tall water tower, and then trees give way to Hat banks stretching into the distance. Asi is the southernmost ghat in the sacred city, and is very popular with early morning bathers. Asi is interesting because, with its clay banks, it shows how the ghats originally were before they were covered with stone and concrete steps-most of which were built by Maratha kings in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The center of worship here is a large linga set beneath a pipal tree on the muddy bank. As you look back downriver from here, the city is unreal, lost in a soft haze that shimmers like maya-the divine illusion.

Courtesy-www.allaboutbharat.org

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