We had made plans the night before to wake up at 4am and do a sunrise boat ride on the Ganges, the beer and late night board games from the previous night got in the way. Tom didn't even stir when the alarm went off, it was not destined to be!
Today was forecast to be a scorcher with more sand storms, we decided to have a quiet day & do a night time boat ride.
After making plans for brunch at a cafe we went to the previous day we set off to walk the 2 streets distance to the cafe and fulfil at least one set of plans for the morning.
The food here is excellent and the manager the previous afternoon had been delightfully chatty and had spent some time trekking in Nepal which created lots of conversation.
This morning in between drinking our lassi's and waiting for the food to be ready we heard a disturbance from around the corner, barely out of sight. There was a tall, broad and muscly Indian man hitting another smaller Indian man. I am so sure that I seen both of them here the day before and that they are employed at the cafe. Once we noticed the sounds it seemed to stop though we could hear what sounded like verbal abuse and shortly after this we could hear the hitting start again. Horrified, we sat there for a few seconds stunned, not sure what to do. We then saw the bigger man grab a wooden broom handle and heard him hit the man a few times before the owner of the cafe ran out to intervene and stop this behaviour. Following this we didn't hear or see anything from the 2 men for about 10 minutes and we thought it had been stopped. It then started again with the appearance of the bigger Indian man who started hitting the smaller man who was sitting on a chair near a wall. We jumped up and walked around the corner, which also happened to be where the kitchen was and the exit, by this time the bigger man had his hands on the smaller man's head and was bashing it against the wall. He immediately stopped and started smiling when he saw us walking towards him. I saw the owner in the kitchen cooking, at least 2 metres away fully aware of what was occurring. He also started smiling once he saw us standing there. I told him that we weren't comfortable with what was going on and that we would not be sitting there listening to this. He asked us to not worry about it and go sit back down as our breakfast was ready, it was an employment disagreement.
We reluctantly took our seats and ate our food very quickly. While we were there the 'employment disagreement' completely stopped and the smaller guy was able to clean himself up. The owner offered an explanation saying that he had given the worker a cash advancement that had been spent on alcohol and drugs, causing him to turn up late to work. We passed the smaller guy as we left the cafe and his face looked quite swollen. I hope he never finds himself in that position again & that the beating doesn't leave him feeling like he needs to immediately turn to alcohol or drugs as a coping mechanism.
Following this unfortunate breakfast event plus the heat of the day, we didn't really do too much until 6pm that night when we once again set off in search of dinner and to hire a boat for the night time river ride. This is the BEST way to see the Ganges and the way the Hindu people live without affecting it by your presence. The boat is in the dark, the ghats are illuminated perfectly, its peaceful and unapproachable.
We rode up the river for about 20 minutes watching the ceremonies before arriving at the Manikarnika ghat which is where the open cremation is performed. The boat was stopped and moored up close to the bank. We sat here watching, photographing and asking our guide questions about the ceremony for another 20 minutes. In that time we watched 2 male bodies & 2 female body brought down from the temple, purified in the river, laid on the bare ghats to dry while the pyre is readied and finally put on top of the pyre, the final resting place.
There's an art to preparing the pyres and using only a certain amount of firewood. Every piece of wood is weighed carefully so that the family can be charged appropriately and there are different types of wood that can be used, sandalwood being the most expensive.
The body is washed in the ganges, before being lied on the pyre, wrapped in white cloth, then yellow & orange material & wreaths of merrigolds are placed on top.
Women are not allowed near the cremation area, the pyres or to be part of the ritual as the dead spirit from the body may inhabit their body. It was also previously thought that women's tears, like all bodily fluid are pollutants.
Usually the oldest son carries out the cremation rites & will place a burning stick in the dead persons mouth & light the pyre. For this reason hindu women will wish for a son above a daughter. If there is no son, another Male family member can step in, though this is less desired. Once dead, ideally cremation should be done between 12- 24 hours.
Only certain people can be cremated on a pier in varanasi, if you are a Sadhu (hindu holy man) a leper/have small pox, pregnant woman, a widowed woman or an unmarried woman you can not be cremated, instead they tie a rock to your feet & throw your body into the ganges. Children less than 5 years of age also don't need to be cremated as their souls don't need to be purified. Another interesting fact is that if you are bitten by a cobra and die, you are considered to be lucky and purified, not requiring cremation.
Families who can't afford cremation have been known to throw dead bodies into the river.
Very few hindu people are buried, the exception being those that are murdered or commit suicide, their souls are considered tortured & will not rest no matter what is done to the body.
The fire is left to burn, reducing the body to ashes. Ideally the skull should explode which releases the soul, if by chance this doesn't happen the eldest son is required to split it in half.
If a cremation is not done or done incorrectly the hindu believe that the soul of the person will be disturbed, never taking its next place in the afterlife, instead it will stay on earth & haunt relatives.
It's been a lot to process and learn, a real cremation education, as the Indian's call it. definitely different to any western funeral.
- Alli
Today was forecast to be a scorcher with more sand storms, we decided to have a quiet day & do a night time boat ride.
After making plans for brunch at a cafe we went to the previous day we set off to walk the 2 streets distance to the cafe and fulfil at least one set of plans for the morning.
The food here is excellent and the manager the previous afternoon had been delightfully chatty and had spent some time trekking in Nepal which created lots of conversation.
This morning in between drinking our lassi's and waiting for the food to be ready we heard a disturbance from around the corner, barely out of sight. There was a tall, broad and muscly Indian man hitting another smaller Indian man. I am so sure that I seen both of them here the day before and that they are employed at the cafe. Once we noticed the sounds it seemed to stop though we could hear what sounded like verbal abuse and shortly after this we could hear the hitting start again. Horrified, we sat there for a few seconds stunned, not sure what to do. We then saw the bigger man grab a wooden broom handle and heard him hit the man a few times before the owner of the cafe ran out to intervene and stop this behaviour. Following this we didn't hear or see anything from the 2 men for about 10 minutes and we thought it had been stopped. It then started again with the appearance of the bigger Indian man who started hitting the smaller man who was sitting on a chair near a wall. We jumped up and walked around the corner, which also happened to be where the kitchen was and the exit, by this time the bigger man had his hands on the smaller man's head and was bashing it against the wall. He immediately stopped and started smiling when he saw us walking towards him. I saw the owner in the kitchen cooking, at least 2 metres away fully aware of what was occurring. He also started smiling once he saw us standing there. I told him that we weren't comfortable with what was going on and that we would not be sitting there listening to this. He asked us to not worry about it and go sit back down as our breakfast was ready, it was an employment disagreement.
We reluctantly took our seats and ate our food very quickly. While we were there the 'employment disagreement' completely stopped and the smaller guy was able to clean himself up. The owner offered an explanation saying that he had given the worker a cash advancement that had been spent on alcohol and drugs, causing him to turn up late to work. We passed the smaller guy as we left the cafe and his face looked quite swollen. I hope he never finds himself in that position again & that the beating doesn't leave him feeling like he needs to immediately turn to alcohol or drugs as a coping mechanism.
Following this unfortunate breakfast event plus the heat of the day, we didn't really do too much until 6pm that night when we once again set off in search of dinner and to hire a boat for the night time river ride. This is the BEST way to see the Ganges and the way the Hindu people live without affecting it by your presence. The boat is in the dark, the ghats are illuminated perfectly, its peaceful and unapproachable.
The body is washed in the ganges, before being lied on the pyre, wrapped in white cloth, then yellow & orange material & wreaths of merrigolds are placed on top.
Women are not allowed near the cremation area, the pyres or to be part of the ritual as the dead spirit from the body may inhabit their body. It was also previously thought that women's tears, like all bodily fluid are pollutants.
Usually the oldest son carries out the cremation rites & will place a burning stick in the dead persons mouth & light the pyre. For this reason hindu women will wish for a son above a daughter. If there is no son, another Male family member can step in, though this is less desired. Once dead, ideally cremation should be done between 12- 24 hours.
Only certain people can be cremated on a pier in varanasi, if you are a Sadhu (hindu holy man) a leper/have small pox, pregnant woman, a widowed woman or an unmarried woman you can not be cremated, instead they tie a rock to your feet & throw your body into the ganges. Children less than 5 years of age also don't need to be cremated as their souls don't need to be purified. Another interesting fact is that if you are bitten by a cobra and die, you are considered to be lucky and purified, not requiring cremation.
Families who can't afford cremation have been known to throw dead bodies into the river.
Very few hindu people are buried, the exception being those that are murdered or commit suicide, their souls are considered tortured & will not rest no matter what is done to the body.
The fire is left to burn, reducing the body to ashes. Ideally the skull should explode which releases the soul, if by chance this doesn't happen the eldest son is required to split it in half.
It's been a lot to process and learn, a real cremation education, as the Indian's call it. definitely different to any western funeral.
- Alli
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