Hindus Holiest City - VARANASI

The HINDUS HOLIEST CITY, VARANASI IS PERPETUALLY overflowing with pilgrims. To visit it once in a lifetime is every Hindu’s goal; to die here is to have the greatest chance of moksha (salvation). It is, therefore, not an easy city for a person to visit.

Walk down to the river for a boat ride, either early in the morning or in the late afternoon when the sun’s rays are enjoyable rather than punishing. Give this city some time: zipping in for a dawn boat ride and then out again is rarely satisfying. Varanasi is about watching a nonstop pilgrimage city going about business. A city as old as Babylon, Varanasi is, for Hindus, quite simply Kashi (city of Divine Light). Of the Hindu’s seven Sacred Cities, it is the most sacred. The others are the Haridwar, Ujjain, Mathura, Ayodhya, Dwarka, and Kanchipuram. Each is dedicated to Shiva or Vishnu, except Kanchipuram which is dedicated to both.

Thus, although it is a center for Hindu culture and has fine music and art. From the most humble upward, pilgrims often make their yatras by bus on excursion, singing bhajans along the way.

Varanasi was already thriving 2,500 years ago when Buddha came to Sarnath to deliver his first oration making it sacred to Buddhists, too. Later, Muslims periodically plundered the city: the widowed Shah Jahan Forbade temple- rebuilding, and pious Aurangzeb converted one temple into a mosque. Early British arrivals wrote of being intoxicated by Varanasi’s exoticism and mystery. Winding your way through the maze of narrow, filthy alleys swarming with cows and pilgrims, you feel something of this as you peek into temples of all sizes, some simple, some flashy, like Tulsi Manasmunda, funded by the Birla family. Pilgrims flood in and out of then ceaselessly.

Despite the city’s squalor- for no other word will fit – the holiness of Varanasi has been the inspiration for some of the most sublime creations in Hindu culture. Classical music was nurtured in the temples and today the city produces many of the India’s top musicians and stages important music festivals.

Getting there:

Varanasi is well connected and accessible to major Indian cities and tourist spots. There are daily domestic flights and trains to and fro from Varanasi. Varanasi also has a good network of roads connecting it with the nearby places.

Accommodation:

There are several options ranging from hotels, resorts, lodges, guest houses, dharamshala’s etc.

Best time to Visit:

Any time is the best time to take a holy dip in the sacred water of Ganga River.

Eating And The Right – Hand Rule

The biggest minefield of potential faux pas has to do with eating. This is usually done with the fingers, and requires practice to get absolutely right. Rule one is: eat with your right hand only. In India, as right across Asia, the left hand is for wiping your bottom, cleaning your feet and other unsavory functions (you also put on and take off your shoes with your left hand), while right hand is for eating, shaking hands, and so on.

Quite how rigid individuals are about this tends to vary, with Brahmins (who at the top of the hierarchical ladder are one of the two “right handed castes”) and southerners likely to be the strictest. While you can hold a cup or utensil in your left hand, and you can usually get away with using it to help tear your chapati, you should not eat, pass food or wipe your mouth with your left hand. Beat is to keep it out of sight below the table.

This rule extends beyond food. In general, do not pass anything with your left hand, or point at anyone with it either: and Indians won’t be impressed if you put it in your mouth. In general, you should accept things given to you with your right hand – though using both hands is a sign of respect.

The other rule to beware of when eating or drinking is that your lips should not touch other people’s food – Jutha is a strictly a taboo. Don’t, for example, take a bite out of a chapati and pass it on. When drinking out of a cup or bottle to be shared with others, don’t let it touch your lips, but rather pour it directly into your mouth. This custom also protects you from things like hepatitis. It is customary to wash your hands before and after eating.

On Eco Trail...

On Dusshera a friend of mine visited my place. While talking to her she advised me that why don’t I travel to such places which are ecologically rich. Instead for traveling like this here and there why not opt for ecological destinations in India. A better word would be Eco-Tourism.

The idea somewhere left a mark in my mind. Well next 2 weeks went into meeting the targets in office, but the idea stayed there. After 14 days of hard work I did a lot of net surfing and a thorough research on Eco tourism in India. Somewhere a lost geographer woke up in me…Well but I needed a reason or a chance to go there, as have no holidays left.

It was late in the evening of 16 October when I received a letter regarding a conference on 24 October in Hyderabad. This was a good reason for me to visit the region and I don’t need many offs from office to visit the place especially when the Diwali holidays are standing on my doorstep. I mean it was Thursday and my Diwali holidays were starting from Saturday.

I did a lot of net surfing on finding the places in Andhra Pradesh, how to reach there, where to stay and all other basic queries. The biggest problem, which I was facing, was as of where to stay and how to travel within. Was just wondering when Pooji reminded me of Indiahotelreview.com. (I have got my hotels booked by them earlier also).

I left a query on their site in the Q n A section regarding my stay in Hyderabad, as it is the capital of the state and is easily accessible by air. Apart from Hyderabad I asked for the hotels in Vishakhapatnam, Kurnool, Tirupati, Vijaywada and Pulicat. The Q n A expert replied to my query within half an hour asking for my budget and dates for stay. And then the travel in A.P. and accommodation part of my trip was taken care by the IHR people. Within next two hours my hotel reservations were done and a cab was booked.
IHR team really works hard and fast. In the afternoon of 17 October I got a call from IHR confirming if I have received the travel voucher.

Finally I reached Hyderabad at 10.40 pm by kingfisher airlines. There was a cab waiting for me at the airport. The driver took me to the hotel Siddharta where a prior booking was done. I asked the driver to come next day in the morning at 7 so that I can see the beautiful capital city before I start on my eco-trail.

I went into my room had my dinner and went to sleep as I wanted to be fresh in the morning…

n ya a lot of thanks to all those who helped me in making this trip com true..., Pooji, Indiahotelreview, and Swapan (she booked my air tickets)

Gud Nite..!!
:)