Pilgrims on the Ganges River, Banaras, India
Banaras is the most visited pilgrimage
destination in all of India. One of the seven Holy Cities, one of the twelve
Jyotir Linga sites and also a Shakti Pitha site, it is the most favored place
for Hindus to die and be cremated. Myths and hymns speak of the waters of the
Ganges River as the fluid medium of Shiva's divine essence and a bath in the
river is believed to wash away all of one's sins
In recent years the Ganges River has drawn attention for its
ungodly level of pollution. But the bathers are immune to all this. Nearly 2.5
million of them come each year to Banaras, this
holiest of cities, on the banks of the most sacred of Indian rivers.
According to Hindu legend,
Lord Shiva unleashed the Ganges from the knot of his hair. For centuries, its
rich floods lent fertility to the soil of the central Gangetic plains, which
nourished some of India's most prominent ancient civilizations.
Varanasi is a heap of mismatched temples and narrow steps located
on the Ganges' crescent-shaped western bank, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It
is a city of scholars, home to one of Asia's largest universities.
It is a city of temples, including the gold-plated Vishwanath
sacred to Shiva; the Bharat Mata, or Mother India, temple that boasts a huge
three-dimensional relief map of the Indian subcontinent carved out of marble;
and the hundreds of small temples that dot the waterways and alleys. It is also
a city of legends. Varanasi strains under its own myths, which are
contradictory, obscure and impossible to prove.
"Death in Kashi is not a feared death, for here the ordinary
God of Death, frightful Yama, has no jurisdiction. Death in Kashi is death
known and faced, transformed and transcended."
Readers interested in studying Banaras in greater detail are
encouraged to consult the writings of Diana Eck, Roger Housden, Savitri Kumar,
and Rana Singh listed in the India
bibliography.
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