The pace just never lets up on this trip - and that’s a good thing. There is so much to see and do here and I don’t want to miss anything. We left Agra and the Taj Mahal behind and headed to Ali Purna, a small village, via Jhansi, by train. The station was quite an experience with crowds of people, awake, eating and/or asleep on the platforms; dogs, awake, eating and/or asleep on the platforms; cows awake and eating from garbage bins on the platforms. Cows wandering ON THE TRACKS at the station, below the platforms, as the train pulled in. Trains can easily be 3-4 hours late, sometimes more. I don’t know if cows on the tracks have anything to do with that. The ticketing system is chaotic. Even Indian people don’t book their own trains but use a travel agent - and even then you might have to show up at the station, on a wait list, except there is no list. And so the train hasn’t stopped before people are grabbing the doorways, running alongside it, throwing their luggage in through open windows. Apparently, if you get on and don’t have a seat you’re still golden and the conductor will not kick you off. So on an overnight journey people will sleep on the floor, or sometimes share a bunk with strangers. Families bring blankets to the station and camp out on the pavement station floor while waiting. Really poor people simply sleep there on the cement and beg on the platforms and outside the station.
We transferred to a small bus to get to Ali Purna, where the landscape was greener and more lush, not as dusty as farther north, but still dusty. The roads are much different, the best being a 2 lane undivided highway. At times, it grew more and more narrow, like an unsteady hand drawing a perspective drawing rather badly. The roads were choked with traffic. We stayed in an ancient palace with the typical grime stained stone exterior of Indian buildings. The pollution and the rains make buildings look old fast. It was a beautiful building, with an inner and outer courtyard and looked like a Bollywood set. The rooms were modern with all the expected conveniences: the kitchen prepared each plate individually, slow but delicious. Which has been the general verdict on food here.
Minutes after we arrived the local milkman “guild” arrived to share its celebration of Diwali with drums, sticks hit together and used to pound a rhythm on the ground, and dance. It was a wild and happy scene - from a Bollywood movie. The raj who lives here is a raj still, although he now holds elected office. Villagers trooped in at regular intervals to speak with him about village matters, sitting and waiting quietly in the courtyard until he appeared, then rising and joining him on chairs.
A walk in the village produced a riot of delight among the children - and not just them - as we took and showed them their pictures. We walked, trailing clouds of children. Most buildings were freshly painted for Diwali, in bright blues, pinks and yellows.
Next day we headed to the Khajuraho temples, a world heritage site, famous for its erotic sculptures. On the way there we passed a group of Jains, clad in white robes except for two men who wore nothing. Never do, apparently. It seemed fitting we see them that day. The temple grounds are beautifully groomed and the temples carefully preserved and cleaned. They’re very much like the ones in Laos and Cambodia and the detail in buildings this size is stunning. It is a world class site.
We ate at the home of a local villager who made us a fantastic home-cooked thali plate (mixed platter). This home was not as fancy as the one where we spent Diwali and it is fascinating to be allowed these glimpses into people’s everyday lives. There were three second floor rooms; a kitchen, a foyer with a shrine, a great room that served as tv room, playroom and bedroom for the family. And there was a small room one floor up that serves as the owners art gallery, where he shows his own art.
Then I went on a jungle safari, hoping to see a wild beast. Instead I saw the North Indian jungle, so different from what I’ve seen before because it’s dusty too and has long grasses. I kept hoping to see those grasses waver, then part, as a tiger emerged but no such luck.
The next day we traveled to Orchha, and the river Betwa, a holy tributary of the Ganges. We stayed at a fancy hotel, in beautiful permanent tents, where a man playing a gentle melody on a wooden flute piped us in the door. And guess what? There was a festival going on there - we’d seen, literally, truckloads of women in bright saris, and large groups of women singing, as they walked to and from the village. This one is a women’s festival and for 30 days they make their way to water to pray. They come as pilgrims to the Betwa for at least one of those days. Traffic was, once again, beyond belief, and in a little town! The next morning was an incredible sight as thousands of women women in bright colours lined the bank of the river, singing their prayers. We toured more ancient buildings and then attended the RamRaj puja at the local temple - and it starts to sink in how old this culture is, and you start to imagine these rituals being performed for many thousands of years before you came along. I found it all rather unsettling.
This was followed by another home visit - this one a cooking demonstration where we watched a woman calmly and effortlessly prepare another delicious thali plate for 6 guests and her family, holding her 2 year old child a part of the time. Her sister cooked the chapati, puri and papadum, which all rise magically without any yeast whatsoever. Then a visit to a paper making factory where women work and make paper from recycled clothing.
After this we took the overnight train to Varanasi, sleeping in a second class, AC, three tier car. These are open bunks with no curtains, which were banned after the brutal rape of a young woman in Delhi. She was held in a bus with curtains. They are a little cosy but perfectly comfortable and all but one of our group slept very well. One slept for 13 hours! The train had arrived at Jhansi on schedule but lost time during the night, arriving in Varanasi 3.5 hours late.
Varanasi, the oldest living city in the world, has been absolutely incredible. Each Indian city has had its own flavour and Varanasi seems a little wilder and more lawless than the others. Perhaps it is the constant presence of, and reminders of, death. There are 88 ghats (it means mountains and the steep steps leading to the Ganges resemble mountains) and 2 are used solely for cremation pyres. It is an eerie thing to see a body in the flames while another lies on the ground nearby waiting for its pyre to be set up. It’s a solemn moment.
And, most incongruously to me, but perfectly Indian in philosophy, I think - the ghats alongside are used for purification and bathing ceremonies. These were being used for yet another festival, this one also a women’s festival. Since there are something like 3 million Hindu gods, there is reason for many festivals. This one is for worshippers of the sun god and they come to stand in the Ganges for 3 - 4 hours, fasting for 3 days as well.
Every night at sunset there is a long prayer ceremony to mother goddess Ganges, with multiple priests, bells, drums, singing, fire and more. We watched it from a boat - large enough for many more than our group of twelve - rowed by a single skinny super strong man. We set afloat the traditional candles surrounded by flowers, set in a paper dish. Ours and those from other boats looked beautiful on the water, as flames blazed their fierce work on the distant shore.
This morning we returned to the boat for sunrise and witnessed the crowds once again. Now they greeted the sun with loud, prayerful cheers. More women stood in the water. Fireworks were being set off from the ghats every few minutes. I’ll post some pictures to give you an idea of the experience. We spent some time in old Varanasi - and one tuk tuk driver said to me, “You like driving in Varanasi? No rules here.” He gets the prize for understatement.
Tomorrow we fly to Delhi and the first half of this trip is done. Next day we fly to southern India, which should be lusher and warmer. I hope it is half as exciting!
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