Varanasi

“[Varanasi] is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together.“
Mark Twain

“Ancient” and “Intense” are the best words I have to describe Varanasi, but they come far short of capturing the feel of the place. It’s the most holy city for Hindus, their most important pilgrimage site, much like Mecca is to Muslims. Hindus often come to Varanasi to die and there are beliefs that those who die in Varanasi proceed straight to moksha (liberation from the cycle of reincarnation). Mark Twain’s quote describes one aspect of the city: the feel of antiquity. Much of India is removed from modernity, but Varanasi seems further removed. Walking along the Ganges you feel you’ve stepped back in time. I doubt the general appearance of the city, at least along the river, has changed in the last hundred years. There are now, of course, internet cafes and motorized vehicles, but cow-dung is still the fuel of choice and is formed into disks and left to dry on the side of buildings. Traffic consists of rickshaws, pedestrians, a few cars, a few cows, and more rickshaws. I’m not really sure why it feels so much older than other places in India and Nepal that I have been; perhaps it’s less touched by Western culture. Harder to explain is how I felt when I first arrived there. My travel companion said that my face lit up the moment our train pulled in. I was only there one week, half of it I spent whining because I had to leave. I know that when I return this feeling will fade. I will be bombarded by culture shock, frustrated that I can’t communicate effectively, and, worse, more keenly aware of the spiritual intensity and darkness that pervades the city. This is why I desperately need your thoughts and prayers. Some organizations require their workers to find 100 people to pray for them each day. I would love that kind of support and I know that I will need it. If you will, commit to pray daily or weekly… be as specific as you can… like, “I’ll pray every Tuesday at the prayer meeting” or “every day when I feed my gold fish”… whatever. I’ll be in touch through email and postings on this site.

For more about the city:
http://www.varanasionline.com/