The noise in the streets had become deafening, I had spent quite two days in my room, enjoying there moist winter air that entered my room. The sound of bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles mingled with the sounds of temple bells and Arti Pooja’s taking place at the various temples in the city. People rise early in Banaras, some before the sun, and there is a culture of doing Yoga, exercise or just practicing music in this city and the Ghats are full of people doing this kind of morning activity. Worshippers throng to the temples to do the morning Pooja and the city roads become flooded with morning commuter traffic. Banaras is a badly planned city and the roads are narrow and limited, there are flyovers and bridges, but the traffic is unsystematic.
I managed to reach the Kashi Vishwanath Temple by noon and prayed to Lord Shiva, the temple was a. It unkept may be due to all the Pooja rush of Diwali, there were piles and piles of rotting flowers that littered the corners of the temple. I saw an English lady pour buckets of milk on the central shiva stone, which was flat and jagged, unlike the Shiva Linga which is cylindrical in shape.
Our scooter came in handy here as we had to go through the back lanes of Banaras which are difficult to navigate as they are next to the ghats and of ancient architecture. The amazing thing about Kashi Vishwanath temple is that you can see the entire Ganges from its back door and there are steps leading down from the temple into the river. One can either just sit there or take the many boats into the river.
The market place is chock a black no doubt the post-Diwali Season has started and the shopkeepers have their wares to sell. There is a lot of police presence in the city and the administration seems tight. That is one big improvement that the new Modi Government has bought with it. The orange and pink hue in the sky ushers in the winter in this city and the muddy ghat’s of Banaras rise to the chants and mantra’s that ring in the air, the creations ground burn and burn billowing black soot in the air. Yes, I can feel the vibrating city in my bones as I meander through its many market places, at times feasting on the Laddoos at the Kinner Baba’s Akhara. Yes, I went to the aghodi ashram only to find it locked, but I did enjoy the Prasad and payed my regards to the mighty saint.
