Religion and the River
After enduring another traumatic 5am wake up call this morning, we met our new guide and the coach took us down to the River Ganges where we had a boat ride at dawn.
Unfortunately the weather was overcast and foggy which meant we couldn’t see the sunrise. However, we were able to get a feel of the Hindu lifestyle along the Ganges. The Hindus believe that they have four mothers, their biological mother, Mother Earth, Mother Cow and Mother Ganges. To honour their Mother Ganges they light candles surrounded by flowers and place them into the river. Many Hindus come down to the banks of the Ganges to bathe and wash their clothes. As well as using the Ganges for their everyday chores, the river also has spiritual meaning to them. Every Hindu wishes for their ashes to be scattered into the Ganges. During our ride we passed the crematorium, where a funeral pyre was burning and a woman was about to be cremated. We also saw the Holy Men of the city who live in tents on the riverbank. These men give up all their worldly possessions in order to live a simple and spiritual life.
After our trip down the river we visited a Hindu temple which was beautifully decorated.
Later in the day, we visited Sarnath, which is the place where the Buddha preached his first sermon and which is therefore known as the birth place of Buddhism. We first visited a museum full of ancient Buddha stone statues, and then went on to the excavation site at Sarnath where they have uncovered the ruins of the ancient Buddhist monastery. We then went on to a Buddhist temple. In the garden there was a tree symbolising where Buddha was supposed to have sat while delivering his first sermon to his five disciples.
We have been given the afternoon to catch up on some much needed sleep and will be going out for dinner tonight in what will be our last night in Varanasi.
We would all like to say thank you to everyone who has taken the time to visit the website and leave us a message. It is really motivating to read your messages and know that you are thinking of us. A special thank you to Sam Bell, who has kept up his promise to leave us a message everyday. We would really appreciate it if you could continue sending us messages and promoting our website to both friends and family as the hardest part of our journey is yet to come.
A special message from Katherine: From reading the comments on my scarves: ok if you know me you will think it perfectly normal for me to be wearing a scarf wherever and whenever! They keep me cool ok?
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