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2003-12-11 - Varanasi (Day 238)

As the sun came up over the Ganges, I had the feeling of being in a large open air cathedral in that everything seemed to have tones of religion, the river as a focal point, pilgrims raising cups to the sun asking for blessing, the temples lining the bank, the smoke from the burning ghats and the garlands of marigolds floating down the river. On the other hand there is also the feeling of everyday life with people getting a shave and massage by the bank, drinking tea, and going for a jog along the ghats. I spent the morning taking a long two hour boat ride up the Ganges to the Assi Ghat which is pretty much the beginning of the string of about 100 ghats along the river. After the boat ride I sat trying to take it all in and then had my bath in the Ganges, cleansing myself of my sins (that is if the powers that be are in fact Hindu...).

After the sun was fully up I set off for the Vishwanath temple (Golden Temple) through a series of small winding alleys in the old town which smelled of urine and cow dung at every turn. Finally finding the alley that was the entrance, I was told to leave my camera in a shop as it wasn't allowed, fully searched by the Indian army which is guarding the temple and let through down the alley. However upon reaching the temple I am told by two of the guys inside, "Go! Go! You are not allowed here!"

Trying to keep my temper I walked back up the alley, retrieved all my things and slowly found my way out of the web of alleys back into the main street while I tried to walk my anger out. On one hand, there are of course many places that one can't visit but having a temple open to all levels of society - except YOU is simply infuriating. This is of course nothing, in fact trivial, compared to what the American Blacks, Jews from around the world, or any number of other groups and minorities have faced in this century. My anger is probably only because I'm spoiled by the concept of freedom of prejudice due to skin color, or religion which is the environment I grew up in. The real world however does not work like that. Even though the second most powerful political group in India has said that blowing up this temple is their second priority, and after my cleansing in the Ganges which should have returned me to a state of purity based on the Hindu doctrine, that I was still viewed as the person who should be kept out of the temple is infuriating. Hospitality to travelers and those who come from afar to learn is a basic precept of most of the world's religions, including of course Hinduism, but though I had traveled half way around the world to come to try to learn and understand this culture and its religions, I was yelled at to "Go! Go!" on the doorstep. Though a small incident, discrimination of this sort left me with a very bad taste in my mouth.

The afternoon was marked by trying to buy the ticket to close this part of the trip and leave India. As I had been warned prices were high and due to it being the holiday season seats were hard to find, but I finally got the exit door booked with the bonus of routing through Paris with a day and a half stopover to enjoy New Years in Paris!

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