After our amazing adventures in Ladakh, Jon and I went on one more trip during his June/July Indian Odyssey: Benares.
Benares, or Varanasi, was high on our lists for a variety of reasons. First, it is an amazing place, being a center of religious pilgrimage. Also, it is a musical center, and we have some friends who are professional musicians that live there.
So, on the train to Benares we went!
Upon reaching Benares I was astonished: the monsoon had arrived two days before, and this city, or more importantly the ghats (the steps that form a promenade along the river and are an important part of the Benares tourist experience)were completely flooded. I knew that the monsoons would "eventually" raise the level of the river and flood the steps, but I had no idea it would happen so quickly!
Jon with water buffalo
Jon high stepping
Jon staying high above the water
Although we gave a darn good college try at walking along the ghats, it was just impossible, but we did get a chance to enjoy the river in other ways. One was attending the ganga artri (spelling?) ceremony where each night the river is "put to bed"
Putting the ganges to bed with the Ganga Arti ceremony
While at the ceremony, I decided to buy a candle, say a prayer for our baby-who-was-as-yet-unnamed, and send the prayer and candle down the river.
Me lighting a candle for Annie and setting it alight in the river
Candle floating on river that I lit for Annie
So, with the river flooded and our options somewhat limited, we just enjoyed spending our few days in Benares doing the thing that we had really come to do: Music lessons.
For those who didn't know, Jon used to play a sitar back in the day, until it broke when shipping it to college or somewhere. With the prospect of learning from a sitar master-Goswamiji-Jon jumped at the opportunity for some one on one lessons.
In the spirit of India, we also came across some amazing wedding music being played in the street.
In addition, we took a quick day trip out to Sarnath, where the Buddha delivered his first sermon. IT WAS HOT.
Sarnath
Stupa
Jon playing flute
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