After Bihar we entered Uttar Pradesh and arrived at Varanasi (also known as Benares). This required us to get up excrutiatingly early and catch a train from Gaya. Gaya, as already mentioned, is a highly disreputable place, so lurking around the train station at 4am was not a joyful proposition. In any case, we were made to wait an extra two hours before the train arrived, and we eventually alighted at Varanasi, tired and hoping that our next hotel would actually be a good one.
Kumudu and I by the Ganges:
Sitting by a ghat:
The star attraction:
Varanasi is one of the premier holy cities in India. It is important for the Buddhists because of its proximity to Sarnath, and to the Hindus on account of the Ganges (the Ganges is of particular religious significance only at certain places, for example, Hardwar and Varanasi). On the face of things, however, Varanasi was very much the same as any other Indian city, i.e. dirty and over-populated. Nonetheless, the ganga was a magnificent sight, and the ghats (bathing platforms) were really a cultural experience. We visited the Ganges as part of an early morning boat trip. We were lucky, because we were the only two people on the boat (we subsequently saw several boats that were literally crowded with tourists snapping away with their cameras; at one point there was a boat traffic jam as all the tourist barges collided with one another). At that time, the Ganges were obscured by a thick mist that prohibited a good view of the surrounding area, but as we moved forward, people, boats, and buildings would emerge mysteriously out of it. We saw people washing clothes in the river, bathing (bathing in the river confers the elimination of one's sins) , corpses being cremated (cremation at Varanasi guarantees a sound rebirth or moksha i.e. liberation), fisherman snatching up the few fish left in the river and people reading newspapers on the ghats. We even saw a dead cow being summarily dragged and dumped into the river (animals, holy men and children are simply put into the water; they are not cremeated). Not to mention the implausible number of tourists! Later still, we went for a walk along the ghats closer to sunset and found it equally beautiful. There were countless water buffalo and cows wandering about aimlessly. Many of the Indians were eager to get out of their way, and one person literally threw himself out of the path of a cow who was simply ambling along.
We also made a point of visiting Sarnath while at Varanasi. Sarnath was the town at which the Buddha preached his first sermon, i.e. the first turning of the wheel of the dharma-law. We had a lengthy chat with the Sri Lankan monk who was operating the temple there, and he gave us a pirith nool (see earlier). The stupa there was majesterial and ancient - a ruin from at least the days of Asoka, but probably even earlier. The ruin itself indicates where the Buddha preached the first sermon. There was also a Jain temple nearby and a Bo-tree where a group of Singhalese pilgrims chanted pirith. On the way back, we passed the 'Centre for Higher Tibetan Studies'. The institute my prospective superviser works at - I didn't know this until the next day, but for some mysterious reason chose to look more closely about where he was meant to be doing his research. Having found that he was in the same city I was in (through pure chance mind you), I set about trying to meet him, only to discover he was on his way to Delhi! I chose to interpret the missed-meeting as a fortuitous sign.
We were aso exceptionally lucky with the hotel at Varanasi. Hotel Haifa was a new and well maintained place. The room was cheap, as were the meals (although the facilities were a rip-off and I got a virus from their computer). The food was also magnificent, and they had great Israeli food (as it turns out Israeli's really like India).
After Varanasi, we took our final train trip to the hole that is Gorukhpur. Gorukphur is north of Varanasi, and was relevant to us only beacuse it was near the border with Nepal, and also because it was very close to Kushinagar - the place where the Buddha died. Hotel Bobina, the place we stayed, was by far the worst hotel we stayed at in India. It was the kind of place that had everything, and therefore had nothing. By this I mean that it had a pool, a bar, a restaurant, even a gym (the latter, I didn't look at - thank god). However, because it only got about two guests a year, or something, it could not upkeep it all. So therefore it excelled in nothing. The room was a mess: peeled paint, grotty old beds, broken toilet, phone and TV that didn't work. And the smell - everything smells in India, but the hotel had this distinctivly awful smell that I cannot quite explain. We later discovered that it was on account that the cleaner used bleach on EVERYTHING! After eyeing up the mosquito infested restaurant, I soon realized that it would be an error to eat there. However being that there was no restaurant closer, we reluctantly ate there. I was right. I instantly got sick from their suspicious food. Oh, and their food was priced in silly ways: a boiled egg cost 3o rupees each, not including bread. That would mean that two eggs and bread would cost 120 rupees: a silly price for such a basic item (it should have cost about 60 rupees).
Nonetheless, we hired a car and headed off to Kushinagar the next day. Kushinagar is the place where the Mahaparinibbana Sutra was preached, and also where the Buddha died between two Sal trees and was cremated. It was a very special place and probably my favourite Buddhist site. It had a certain brooding, isolated atmosphere, possibly enhanced by the gathering storm clouds that greeted us. The area is surrounded by paddies, and quite routine in terms of land features. However, there were several beautiful Buddhist Temples from several different countries, and also the excellent Golden Reclining Buddha. The statue is probably one of the finest Buddha statues I have seen, and has the Buddha in his death bed repose, complete with a golden cloth (the sutra describes how Buddha and Ananda, his chief disciple, are outfitted with gold blankets). Nearby, was the even more significant stupa, erected countless years ago to comemorate the place where the Buddha was cremated. Kushinagar is quite remote and difficult to get to so we were the only visitors making it very special. The Sri Lankan monk at the nearby temple even made us some tea!
Kumudu outside Mahaparinibbana Temple:
Golden Buddha (you can see our flowers as well):
Full image of the Golden Buddha:
At the stupa at which Buddha was cremated:
Kumudu:
We hired another car, escaped Gorukphur, and made it for Nepal. After getting our passports stamped quickly we headed acrossthe border, evading the visa touts and the long line of Tata trucks that snaked their way to the border. Instantly, we saw that Nepal was much cleaner than India - arguably cleaner than Sri Lanka - which was the first relief. The second relief was that the Nepalese people were much friendlier and helpful. We arrived at Hotel Glasgow - an average place, but comfortable. We arranged for a car to take us to Lumbini and Kapilavastu. The whole plan was up in the air, however, on account that - as was explained to us - Maoist rebels in the area could make the trip potentially dangerous. However, due to pure luck and a resolve to get to the place regardless, we managed to get a van that would drive us around.
Lumbini is the place where Buddha was born, and is therefore significant to all Buddhists. It is possibly the most temple-rich Buddhist site, with about thirty different temples from different countries and sects dotted around the huge sprawling area. We explored many of these temples with a dodgy cycle rickshaw. But the main attraction was Maya Devi Temple - the place where Buddha's mother, Maya Devi, gave birth to Buddha under a Sal tree. The ruins of the temple include a small sqaure plaque, on which is meant to be an image of Maya Devi giving birth: however, it was too worn for us to see anything. The plaque is also meant to pin point the exact location of his birth, although this seems rather unlikely. Outside the temple was a pool in which Maya Devi is said to have bathed, and a large and very gnarled Sal tree. We hung around the place for a while, considered buying a Singing bowl (but decided it was too kitch) before heading for Kapilavastu.
Kumudu and I by the 'Eternal Flame':
A gompa - a Tibetan stupa:
Me rotating a giant Tibetan prayer wheel:
Maya-Devi Temple:
My Maya-Devi by the bathing pool near temple:
Kapilavastu is where Buddha was brought up and raised. It is, reputably, the place where he realized that his life of luxury was an illusion and something that should be overcome. All that remains of the palace of Kapilavastu is a very faint ruin, but the gateway which Buddha would have rode out on in his chariot still remains. Although, there was very little there, it was still a unique place and seemed relatively un-plied by tourists. We also stumbled across a peculiar little kovil built into a tree, and a crazy old woman with a cane lurking outside. The image inside was of an elephant - a rather peculiar image as far as I can tell, and I could not figure out what deity it represented. At the gates of Kapilavastu:
