Indian Adventure (Part 4)-Varanasi

We were on our way to Varanasi on a bumpy Spice Jet flight. We reached there late on Saturday evening due to flight delays and hence had to miss the arthi (a worship ritual)on the steps of the Ganges everyday at 6.30pm. But the wedding festivities kicked off with a welcome dinner at a South Indian restaurant. The whole next day consisted of bridal events including the sangeeth followed by a cocktail reception. The sangeeth was the most fun part of the ceremony as it included the dance that I was part of. The most surprising performance was a dance performed to a bollywood number by the bride & groom themselves. Next day, we headed to Mirzapur, the bride's hometown. which was about 2hrs away from Varanasi. On our way we toured a carpet factory, which supplies products to several well known American stores, as Mirzapur is well known for its carpet industry.

The wedding processional was led with the groom on a white horse surrounded by family and friends making his way to the bride's quarters. The entrance of the bride preceded by her beautiful niece is etched into my memory.
The wedding ceremony which included the walking around the fire four times lasted for less than an hour. This was my first experience of an Indian wedding and it was just like the movies. I was so happy for my friend. The weather corporated and everything went as planned. After eating lots of good food, we headed back to Varanasi late at night.

Next morning we did a brief tour of Varanasi. We rented a taxi and had a local guide take us to the ghats (large rows of steps) that lead to the river. Among the several ghats along the river, only a handful of them are considered sacred. We saw a dead body being cremated while another cremation was being set up. This was a common and routine occurrence on the banks of the Ganges as it is considered holy to be cremated here. Then the ashes are thrown in to the river. The pollution the area was unbelievable as we walked though the alleys ways of the heart of the town. It was surreal to see the convergence of the old traditions along with the modern way of life.

Then we were on our way to Saranath, the place where Lord Buddha made his first sermon, which one of the four holy sites visited by Buddhists. Due to the terrible traffic, we had no time to stop and make any offering at the temple. We just drove by the site as we didn't want to risk missing the bus back to the airport. Our flight back was thankfully uneventful and we returned with memories of a wonderful adventure.