Trip to Sarnath

Dhamek Stupa

January 31, 2026

We had our last excursion for Varanasi yesterday. We had a bus and private car take us to the neighboring city of Sarnath. Sarnath is a significant Buddhist pilgrimage site because it is the location where Buddha gave his first teaching. The Dhamek Stupa above marks the location of his first instruction to his disciples after his enlightenment. We walked around the stupa clockwise along with monks and tourists from all around India and Asia.

Elisabeth is well connected in the Buddhist world and even ran into someone she knew!

Pressing gold leaf on the stupa's pedestal.

Another devotional act for the pilgrims is to press gold leaf on the stupa. The gold represents the purity, wisdom and brilliance of the Buddha. It is also a way of gaining merit for the worshipper.

The stupa is located in Deer Park. It sits in the middle of an archaeological site.

 

 Among the ruins is the spot where the Buddha is believed to have spent his first rainy season in mediation. There was not much traffic noise there, and we we finally could see and hear some birds! My favorite was the green Rose-ringed parakeets flying around.

Ashoka Pillar

The Emperor Ashoka was an Indian emperor who ruled from 268-232 BCE. At one point, his kingdom stretched from Afghanistan to Bangladesh. He embraced Buddhism after a particularly ruthless conquest. He erected pillars throughout his kingdom on which he inscribed Buddhist teachings that promoted non-violence.  The pillars were 40-50 feet tall, often topped with an animal carved in polished stone.

Mulaganda Kuti Vihar temple

We left the park and walked to the Mulaganda Kuti Vihar temple to see the murals on the interior walls.

They were painted by a renowned Japanese artist in 1931, depicting the life of Buddha. 

Elisabeth wanted to show the students where she lived and studied forty years ago while she worked on her dissertation. She lived in simple housing located on a Chinese temple ground. This was her room. The shower and squat toilet were at the end of the hall. She would cook her favorite meal (homemade spaghetti sauce and pasta) on a little burner on the walkway in front of her room. Later in our day, she ran into a woman who also lived here back then!

Visiting the Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies.

We then moved on to visit the Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies. Elisabeth studied and used the resources at this Institute when she lived here before. We were greeted by the Vice Chancellor of the University, the registrar and a member of their faculty. We were served snacks and coffee. The Vice Chancellor asked each student to introduce themselves. Then he gave a short sermon on how to attain genuine happiness. The Institute was founded in 1967 after the Dalai Lama and Prime Minister Nehru agreed to establish it to help preserve the Tibetan culture and language.

Our students were then paired with students from the Institute. The local students gave us a tour of the campus and we ate lunch together. Here they are introducing themselves inside the elaborately painted atrium in their library. As they introduced themselves, it was interesting to note only one identified themselves as a "Tibetan refugee born in Nepal." They all had Tibetan heritage.

The local students took us into the "special collections" portion of the library and they were allowed to show us their collection of very old Buddhist sutras.

Inside special collections, the students hit it off well with their peers. Sometimes it is a bit awkward, but they quickly found it easy to enjoy each other's company.

One of the official pictures documenting the library tour.

Chicken noodle soup and dumplings.

It was almost 2:00 pm by that point and we were hungry! We were invited to a canteen on campus where they served us soup with homemade Tibetan noodles and dumplings. After all the powerfully seasoned Indian food we have been eating, this tasted so mild!

A page in an old Tibetan medical guide.

After lunch, we received a tour of the Institute's new hospital located on its campus. Parts of it is already open and parts of it are still under construction. One section of the hospital is used for treatment of both physical and mental maladies. The other portion of the hospital will be used for research. This book is in the research library of the hospital. The left side shows a healthy branch and the right side an unhealthy branch. Each leaf represents a system in the body.

An herbal pharmacy in the hospital.

They also showed us the pharmacy in the hospital. The bags on the shelves in the back and little tablets of various herbs are compacted into pellets. One of our students said she explained she has been sick for a week with congestion and she came out with a little pellet in her hand. She is supposed to dissolve it in water and drink it. Elisabeth came out with a few for her ailments too.

Dinner at the Terra Cotta Cafe

It was after 5:00 pm by the time we got back to the students' hostel. We had a quick de-brief meeting and then the students had a surprise birthday party for Karl! His birthday is actually today, but they had a nice card and a small gift. We were really hungry and tired of walking. We wanted a quick dinner and didn't really want to go to any of the 4-5 places we have eaten at. As we were leaving, I asked two of the students if they had any recommendations. They suggested the Terra Cotta Cafe. It was about a six minute walk, delicious and NOT vegetarian only as most places are! It is definitely added to our list of places to eat.

Kashivishwanath Temple

The Golden Temple

January 29, 2026, Wednesday 

We ate breakfast in our hotel this morning and then went to the students' hostel for class. When we walked in the cook looked at me and asked if we were hungry. I told him that we had eaten. But after we sat up to the big table, the manager brought Karl and me each a plate of breakfast food--so we had a second breakfast.

My second breakfast: a crepe with honey and the plate of fruit.

The students have read the Bhagavad Gita, a 700-verse scripture written between 500-200 BCE about Prince Arjuna, who is in moral crisis because he is fighting a war with his own kin. He is instructed to pursue his duty without attachment to the results. The scripture's plot led into a discussion about what is karma. In the West, sometimes we see it as predestination, but it is not. Karma means action or deed. Karma has three parts: intention, action and reaction to the result. We found some interesting parallels to Christianity.

 

Our pedicab ride.

We had a free afternoon so we set out to a different part of the city to see five different Hindu temples. Elisabeth warned us that the Kashi Vishwanath Temple (the Golden Temple) may not be open to non-Hindus. It is the holiest temple in Varanasi because it is over the spot where Lord Vishnu's fiery pillar of light manifest itself, marking Shiva's supremacy. We started out in an auto rickshaw. The driver said he could take us to this temple. But the road became more narrow and the crowds got heavier. Finally he stopped next to a pedicab driver and told us to get out. He said he couldn't take us any further because he was "not allowed." We had just watched many pedicab drivers around us and said we wouldn't want to use those. But, we asked how much he would charge us and we were okay with the price and said OK. We climbed in and the seat was too narrow, there was no place to put our feet, and it felt a bit reckless in the crowded narrowing lanes. Finally, we got to an even older section of the city and he could go no further. We got out to walk and he refused to let us pay him! There were no foreigners around, so we were a novelty. We insisted and finally just put the money on his seat!

Loud speakers were blasting music, the crowds were pressing and we were being jostled by the throngs of people rushing around us. We knew we had to purchase tickets but weren't sure we wanted to go into the the temple grounds, but we couldn't see the temple from the outside. It was surrounded by high walls and guarded by armed soldiers. Suddenly a man appeared and explained in English how we could get tickets. He walked us to the office. We presented our passports twice, paid $5 each, surrendered our phones, watches and bags to a locker and found ourselves being led by a priest to one of the gates. We were also given a kata to wear with Shiva emblems on it. We were taken inside the gate and surrendered our shoes and finally taken to the holiest part of the temple. 

Not my picture, but this is what we saw when we went inside the gates.

There were monkeys running around the outer walls. The temple spire is plated with over 2000 pounds of gold. Inside the inner temple was a lingam, a symbol of Shiva. The worshippers were presenting dishes of flowers and foods to a priest to set near it. We happened to stand there during a ritual where the priest poured cow's urine on the lingam as a purification ritual. We walked around the central courtyard wishing we were allowed to take photos. The temple is under heavy security because there have been some terrorists bombings in the past. It was just an interesting mix of the government stepping in and taking control of this sacred site. 

Look who was waiting for us when we came out--Raj!

Raj became our tour guide. He led us down tiny alleys, through crowded bazaars and took us to the cremation site we had seen from the Ganges. We had no idea that is where he was leading us. But we were again not allowed to take any pictures. We walked among the bodies smoldering under piles of wood. We saw where each of the different castes were allowed to be cremated. It didn't smell bad, just smokey. 

A woodpile outside of the cremation site.

This is the eternal flame. When each cremation is performed, it is ignited by this flame which has been burning constantly for 1,500 years. We watched two different bodies being carried to the cremation site on the shoulders of their family members. 200 cremations a day happen at this site. They never stop and work 24 hours a day. When we finished there, they asked for a donation for people who have no money to buy the wood.

Kathwala Mandir temple

Raj led us to four more smaller temples including this Kathwala temple, which is one of the oldest temples in Varanasi. It is built as an exact replica of the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal. It is made entirely of wood. Finally, Raj led us to his family's store even though we told him we were not interested in shopping when we very first met him. We told him we would share his name and location with our students so they too could get his tour.

Paneer for sale in the bowels of the bazaar.

We paid Raj some money for guiding us and found ourselves an auto rickshaw back to the more familiar part of Varanasi and ran into a group of students in one of Goutam's friend's restaurants at dinner.

Banaras Hindu University

BHU

January 28, 2026, Tuesday

The students had a homework/project day today, so we had a free day. We thought it would be interesting to walk around the Banaras Hindu University. It looked like it was about twenty minutes away by auto rickshaw. It was established in 1916. It has over 30,000 students, and is the largest university in Asia.

We ended up getting stuck in a very large traffic jam. We were wedged between other rickshaws and motorcycles and no one could move! Finally some people in rickshaws just got out and walked! It ended up taking us twice as long to get there and everyone of these vehicles was honking the whole time! 

This is the entrance to the art and architecture museum. We had to put our phones and bags in a locker, so we couldn't take any pictures inside. It holds a nice collection of stone and bronze sculptures, Indian miniature paintings in various styles, early coins, terra cotta pieces, and some amazing jewelry pieces. There were art students sitting on the floor in two different galleries sketching. I felt like I was seeing many things I learned about in my Asian Art class in college.

New Vishwanath Temple

We walked over to the new Vishwanath Temple after the museum. It was lunch time, and we were told we could find some food near it. We walked around and didn't trust eating at any of the food stands. The temple is made of white marble and it is dedicated to Shiva. It was built by a wealthy family and consecrated in 1966. A lot of Hindu temples do not allow non-Hindus to go inside. I don't know how they know who is a Hindu. This one was very crowded. You cannot wear your shoes inside, so Karl went in and I sat outside with his shoes.

This is how crowded it was. The man at the back is whispering into the ear of a Nandi bull. All of the Hindu gods have an animal as their vehicle to transport them. Shiva's vehicle is a Nandi bull. The man at the back of the crowd is whispering his prayers and wishes into the ear of the bull. There was a line for men on the left and the women on the right. The woman was whispering into the other ear.

Child ringing bells inside the temple. You are not allowed to take a picture of the central shrine.

Meanwhile, I was sitting out front and a man came and sat down next to me. He kept saying over and over, "where are you from?" I tried to ignore him, but finally answered him. Then he started to wave at the people around me and in Hindi announced that I was from the USA. At least, that is what I thought he said when the only thing I could understand was USA. I was glad to see Karl come walking back. 

Our last stop was to walk around the botanical garden on campus, but it was fenced off and closed. So, we took a rickshaw back to the Assi Ghat and found a new restaurant for lunch. We had hummus, pita, steamed vegetables and lemon soda juice. 

This morning we tried our breakfast at our new hotel. They had two hot dishes, one was a spicy lentil soup called sambar and the other was some turmeric-flavored potatoes and peas called aloo matter. They also served yet another variety of fried bread called poli. It wasn't filled with anything, but they often do have a filling. The waiter asked us if we wanted boiled eggs and we gladly said yes! Almost all of our meals have been vegetarian. He told us it would take twenty minutes and we said OK. After twenty minutes he came back and we learned they had to go buy the eggs first. So, we switched to fried eggs. We are hoping they catch on and have the eggs ready for us. Emily is a big boiled egg fan too.

 

Ganges River Cruise

 

Sunrise over the Ganges River

January 27, 2026, Monday

We got up at 5:30 and walked over to the students; hostel. We were starting on the alley route, but the dogs were awake and growling at us. So, we decided to walk on the usually busy road. It was completely dark, but very little traffic. We met up with the students and Goutam and walked down to the Assi Ghat to find our boat.

Goutam explaining to Karl and Elisabeth what the old buildings were above the ghats.

They gave us life jackets and we sat on the side of the boat. It was brisk, 57 degrees! There are four graduate students from Banaras Hindu University who have been accompanying the students on some of our activities. Banaras is the cultural name for Varanasi. The city is also known as Kashi, the spiritual name, which means "to shine". It has gone by the three names in different periods of time. Varanasi developed because the rivers Varuna and Assi meet and the name for the city came from them. But the British called it Banaras.

Assi Ghat--the students' hostel overlooks this Ghat. It is also where we watched the Aarti, Light Ceremony.

Alimgir Mosque

This mosque was built by the  Mughal emperor Aurangzeb who built it over a Hindu temple he destroyed.

Manikarnika Ghat's crematorium

Over a thousand bodies are cremated at this site a year. It is quite expensive, because the family needs to purchase all the wood. The body is wrapped in white cloth and covered with wood. It can take many hours. The ghat's name comes from the Hindu goddess Sati, who lost her earrings at this site. 

Elisabeth's husband Nima tagged along on six different Pacrim trips she lead. He was loved by many Pacrim students over the years. Karl knew him quite well too. He was born in Tibet and fled in 1958 when the Dalai Lama left. He passed away in 2021. Elisabeth brought two small packages of his ashes. She asked Karl to spread one of them in the Ganges River.

Karl spreading the ashes. She asked each student to think about a loved one who had passed away while they scattered the ashes in the water. It was a touching experience for the students.

Our boat's motor was too loud. I wanted to capture a picture of these birds but I only got them in the distance. They are Siberian gulls who migrate to the Ganges during the cold winter months in Siberia. When we got to the furthest point, they cut the motor on the boat so Karl and Elisabeth could deposit the ashes, and then it was a struggle to get to the motor to start again! We were all starting to wonder how we would transfer to another boat if needed when it started up again.

This videos shows only a small section of the ghats.

Truly a memorable experience!

After our boat ride, we went to the students' hostel for breakfast. We had fruit, parathas and and pancakes (really crepes). We went back to our hostel, showered, packed up and moved to a hotel. Emily is particularly glad she no longer has to use the communal bathroom. The door is not completely covered, so I sat in the hall while she showered last night. We had several Indian men staying on the same floor.

We had a group lunch at yet another friend of Goutam's restaurant. It specialized in South Indian food. Today is a national holiday, Republic Day. It is the equivalent of the 4th of July, so lots of people out and about. After lunch, we visited the Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple. Temples are closed from 12:00 - 3:00 "to allow the gods to rest." When we arrived, it was so crowded! There were long lines. This temple is a special temple to Goutam. He said it was the first place he saw his wife. The matchmaker arranged for them to meet, and a temple is a safe place to do that. There were no pictures allowed inside.

The temple gate to the Hanuman temple.

When we saw the long lines to get in, Goutam told us he had connections. He knows people who work here. When he was in university, he would get up every morning at 5:30 am and go pray at this temple. It is the one closest to his home. Then he would ride his bike and go to 10-12 other temples to pray. Then he would go home to eat breakfast and get ready for his day. He said he did it every day! If he couldn't go in the morning, he went at night. 

He went and talked to someone and then we were allowed to skip the line, walk in and walk to the various parts of the temple to watch them worship. As we were leaving the main shrine, I saw a temple worker return some money to him. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but it seemed to be she didn't want to take his money. I also saw him slip some money to the doorman at the restaurant we ate at. 

The red writing on this wall says RAM. Lord Ram is the 7th incarnation of the god Vishnu. 

The Tulsi Manas Temple.

The temple is built of marble. It was built by to honor a poet who wrote the Ramachritmanas here in Varanasi. The entire book is written on the walls inside the temple, but the temple is full of dolls depicting stories from the book. 

The displays are intended for the illiterate population. Elisabeth warned us it would feel a little "Disneyland".

Resting our feet after two temple visits.

Inside a Varanasi Home

 

Karl has been taking pictures of doors on homes. We walked past this home about five times yesterday. Every time, this man was sitting out front watching the people pass by. We asked if we could take a picture of him and his front door, and he said that we could if I stood there by him too.

January 26, 2026, Sunday

Last night we decided to go to dinner at the pizza restaurant because it is close, and we were not very hungry. We didn't take into account that the Hindu light ceremony was just ending and it was a Saturday night on a three-day weekend. So, we got there and learned there was a forty-five minute wait. We were standing near the hot oven waiting, and I chatted with two English women. They wanted to eat too and one of them went up to the front of the line and learned you could ask to share a table with someone already seated. They did that, so we decided to try that as well.

We ended up sharing a table with these two young stock brokers from Calcutta. They told us they did not come to Varanasi for the spiritual benefits. They came to eat! And they had seen the pizza and apple pie on Instagram. We had a nice conversation with them. Karl got to grill them on Indian politics too.

It's a dog's life here in Varanasi.

We share the alleys with dogs, cows and goats. Fortunately the dogs don't pay any attention to us. We woke up in the night to the sounds of a loud dog fight and then we heard the juxtaposition of cows and horns. Just not what you usually hear. You must watch your step, between the broken tiles and the other piles, it requires careful attention.

Notice the size of this door.

Goutam told us that Indian doors are intentionally made small, so you are required to lower yourself when you enter. You are thus reminded to leave your ego outside and enter a home with humility.

We went to the student's hostel for breakfast this morning. There are no branches of the church in this city. We looked online for a call-in link, but couldn't find one. So we decided to take a morning walk along the Ganges.

The river front is a busy place! 

There are over eighty separate stone steps entrances from the streets of the city to the Ganges River. These step entrances are called ghats. Each of them is named. The students' hostel is at the top of Assi Ghat, a very popular and busy ghat. When the monsoons come, the river rises and covers the steps of the ghats.

Bathing in the Ganges.

Hindus believe that the Ganges River can wash away sins, cure health ailments, and it can help you detach from the attachments of the world so that you can gain physical and spiritual liberation. It is also very polluted water. The students have been told they could potentially risk catching cholera, typhoid and dysentery not to mention the risk of ingesting high concentrations of metals. None of them have been tempted, so we are not worried! The bathing areas were sectioned off for men and women separately, and there was a family area as well.

Another group of bathers with tourists boats in the background. We are taking a 6:00 am river cruise tomorrow morning to watch the sunrise.

Goutam standing in his bedroom under a baby picture of himself. He was showing us that his older brothers spiked his hair for the picture.

Karl, Emily and I met Goutam for lunch. He pointed across the street from the restaurant and said that is his family's home. He and his wife live and work in New Delhi, but he grew up in this 100-year-old house. He invited us to come and see it. And just as we have heard, he brought us into the home and had us sit in his bedroom. The home is large. He comes from a privileged Brahmin family. Not only were they Brahmin, but they were the highest class within the Brahmins, called varna. His father was one of the first founders of Air India.

A view of the bedroom and the chairs we sat in. The pictures on the top of the wall are different Hindu deities. The last picture on the right is of his father.

He served us these sweets called mithai. They are made from graham flour, sugar and ghee.

Goutam says he is not religious, he is spiritual. He worships the baby Krishna. Each morning he talks to the small images of baby Krishna. He provides food for them, give them toys, milk, and dresses them properly for the weather. He has more images, but these three made the trip from New Delhi with him.

He keeps them on this bedside table. You can see the small baby toys on the right and the banana and plastic cups of food on the left.

The view from his bedroom. This is the kitchen table. The opening to the kitchen is on the right. The opening with the banner above it is his mother's room. Straight ahead is the front door. He put bars on the windows to keep the monkeys out of his house. We did see monkey paw prints on a car parked in front of his house. There is a Hanuman temple down his lane that monkeys hang out at.