Varanasi (2)

Varanasi

Our busiest day was when we paid a brief visit to the Sankat Mochan center for leprosy victims in the morning and then Siv and Deepika did English workshop in the afternoon.

Sankat Mochan Kushth Ashram (for leprosy victims)	Monkeys at nearby Sankat Mochan Temple
English workshop
A good student	Some of the participants

This year, we penetrated more deeply into the Chowk, the assembly of tiny, pedestrian-and-motorcycle-only streets north of Gaudali Crossing. Life in there is indeed fascinating. We started by following lines of people with Diwali flowers -- backwards, In this way, we penetrated into a small court which was in fact a large flower market. One helpful gentleman suggested we could get a better view by climbing to a roof via a small stairway we had not noticed. We did and he was right.

Street with Diwali crowd	Flower market
Marigolds for sale -- in large quantities	Marigolds and lotus blossoms
Siv, with Diwali statuettes in background	Diwali statuettes for sale

Not only were flowers for sale everywhere, but also little statues of Rama and Ganesh for Diwali celebrations. After that, we entered into the maze of lanes, with shops of all kinds.

This boy\s eyes were decprated with kohl	Diwali sweets -- yum. Yes, you eat the silver foil
An itinerant parakeet seller	Indian recycling -- cow eating flowers offered to the god

The chowk was fascinating. So much so that John went back again alone one day, walking through the chowk to the mosque at Panchganga Ghat and then back down to Dashashwamedh Ghat.

Ladoo seller with ladoos - yummy!	Narrow lane in the chowk
Small temple	Alangir Mosque at Panchganga Ghat
Inside the Vindu Madhan Temple at Panchganga Ghat	Mirror image of western tourist

Lastly, we wanted to see the Durga Temple, not the one in Varanasi, which we had seen, but the one across the Ganga in Ramnagar. John wanted to find a temple to the goddess xxx, which is supposed to be on the grounds, but we never found it. We did however pay a brief visit to the somewhat grubby palace of the Maharajah. The Maharajah's collection of cars included a Chevrolet dating from John's youth (date withheld...)! And we were taken in tow by a young english-speaking guide of about 12 years of age.

Durga Temple, Ramnagar
Durga and elephants	Beautiful reliefs on temple walls
Maharaja's Palace, Ramnagar
Maharaja's Palace and Ganga	Siv and our guide

As usual, the social scene around the Temple on Ganges Hotel was interesting. Here are just two samples.

Flute seller	Old and young -- same task

The flute seller had a particular set of notes he played, rather like one line of very melodic recitative. We heard it last year too and we could here it from afar. And it goes on singing, across time and space...

On to Mumbai or back to India 2009.