Dawn on the Ganges

From Monday November 8

We returned to the Ganges before dawn on the morning after to find Dasaswamedh Ghat in pretty much the same condition as when we arrived last evening. It was absolutely teeming with activity. The touts were out in force and, instead of waiting for a performance, most of the crowd was preparing for the morning ablutions (if you were Indian) or heading to a boat to watch the ablutions (if you were Western). Apparently part of the ablutions included getting an al fresco shave by a professional.

Of course, the highlight of the morning float was witnessing the worshipers who were bathing in this holiest of rivers. This is a custom none of us could get our minds around. I mean the river was so dirty, the color an unhealthy gray from the silt, trash visibly floating around you - how could anyone immerse themselves in what looked like a sewer? Plus, knowing what was being put into the river upstream - animal waste and human remains - you almost wanted a shower just from floating on it. But I realize this is part of our Western squeamishness. I mean animals and fish die in our water supply all the time and we still drink tap water and swim in the ocean and lakes. Maybe it's not as bad as it seems but it would be much more appealing if was even a little transparent and didn't look so much like you could use a rake to fill a bucket with its water. Here is a link to more pictures we took of Ganges bathers. And here is a little video clip of the bathers to give you an idea of the atmosphere.

In one section of the bathing video, you heard a boy chanting in the background. This is the lad in the picture to the right - the guy with a microphone. A group of monks or priests were having their own Aarti Light ceremony along the bank of the river. The following video clip gives you the flavor of this more impromptu ceremony, compared to the professional performance we watched the previous evening.

There was so much to see I really didn't know which way to turn. I probably looked like a clown trying to juggle a camera and a camcorder while trying not to miss a single nuance in the vision before me. I found a Hindu Sadhu:

An apparent child mystic deep in meditation:

Other children playing:

Goats foraging among the cold ashes of one the cremation ghats, which had no customers at the time we passed by:

But the most fascinating sights were the myriad people we watched doing laundry in the river. I watched their technique, thinking they would have to go home and wash the river dirt out of the clothes or sheets before they could use them. I also imagined our hotel taking the sheets down to the riverbank outside their front door and cleaning our bed linen. If you ever wondered how to wash clothes in the river, imitating the guy in the following video clip wouldn't be a bad idea. He really know how to beat the crap out of the sheets. Click this link to view additional laundry pictures.

We ended our river cruise at the Manikarnike Burning Ghat, where we witnessed the cremations from our boat last night. The ghat was not as busy this morning; no bodies were burning as we approached but there were two being prepared for burial. We debarked from the boat walking past the huge lingam and yoni of the ghat

and then through impressive stacks of wood used to fuel the cremations.

On the way out, we passed this cremation site worker washing off the grime from his, no doubt, grueling night's work.

Go to Flickr to view and/or download the rest of our photos of our dawn frolic on the Ganges.

Note to my readers: I have not posted to this blog for a couple of weeks due to a combination of traveling and not feeling well (a cold or cough). Some people expressed confusion about where I am, since this is written like I'm still in India. I am often transcribing my journal entries from our trip directly into the postings, so it may look like I am currently in India. We're not; we returned to the States the day before Thanksgiving. Just wanted to clarify that.  We recently traveled to Denver for my niece's wedding and to Chicago for a retirement celebration Today we are in Cape Coral enjoying 75 degree weather while you guys are suffering 2 feet of snow. Eat your heart out while you're shoveling.