Varanasi and Aarti

 

Wandering the back alleys in Varanasi.

January 24, 2026, Friday

We have been told to expect the unexpected in India. When we arrived at our last-minute hostel after 11:00 pm last night, we learned we can only have the rooms for two nights. We also learned we are on what they call the third floor, but Americans call the fourth flour. There is no elevator. The stairs are very steep! Fortunately a young hostel assistant carried our two bags up for us. 

Just as we were drifting off, a very loud and long fire firework display started at midnight. Varanasi is loud and has a busy street just below our window. We heard horns and honking all night long. At 2:00 am, they started blasting music and chanting. It was quiet from 3:00 am - 5:30 am when a very long series of bells started chiming. We learned it is the city's early morning wake-up call and it happens every morning!

We attended class with the students at 10:00 am. Notice the peacock feathers in the display. The peacock is a symbol of Sarawati whose festival kept us up in the night.

The pollution is quite bad in the city. It stings my eyes and I can even taste it. We wore face masks when it was particularly hazardous last night. We learned in class today that Varanasi is an important and sacred city to Hindus. They believe that if they die in this city, they will escape the cyclical nature of life and gain salvation. People come here to die and some people come to spread their loved one's remains in the Ganges River. And some come to bathe in the river and practice other rituals. But importantly, a lot of the noise last night was because today is a festival honoring the Hindu goddess Sarawatti. She is the goddess of wisdom, arts, learning and music. It is also the reason the hotels are and hostels are booked!

There are lots of cows wandering the roads and alleys.

We've seen two people on the streets with their snakes.

View of the Ganges from our lunch spot. We had a group lunch with the students at pizza restaurant! Goutam's friend owns it.

After lunch with Elisabeth and Goutam.

Every morning and every evening at 6:00 am and 6:00 pm, there is an Aarti ceremony on the Ganges River banks. Goutam arranged for us to have front row seats! We got there 45-minutes early, and we people-watched and turned down the constant stream of peddlers who came up to us selling trinkets and tea.

At the beginning of the ceremony, the head pujari chanted each of the names of the Hindu deities. Then the audience responded by chanting praise to each of them, raising and lowering the hands as they spoke the words.

A few selected people (we think they may be benefactors) stood in a line. They were given the chance to perform some of the rituals themselves. This man is holding the fire, and he would wave it in a circle before passing it to the next person.

After the opening ritual, a group of people lined up in front of us. Many of them were couples. They removed their shoes and stood on a cloth mat. The ceremony used five items that represent the five elements. Bright yellow flowers represent the earth, holy water from the Ganges (which they sprinkled on themselves and put in their mouths, fire represented by the flames, air symbolized by the smoke and space represented by the cloth. 

This woman is taking her turn with a different flame. The handle is in the shape of a cobra.

The people were sent back to their seats and all of the pujaris gathered at a center table where they chanted and continued to praise the deities.  

The pujari has a pot on the table filled with holy water from the Ganges. He has placed an offering of bananas to them.

Each of the pujaris stood on their own platform and performed a series of synchronized rituals to music. First, they blew on a conche shell. The noise marks the beginning of the ritual and purifies the environment. The sound it makes is supposed to sound like the meditative "ohm".

This is what it sounds like.

Here the pujari is purifying the atmosphere by waving this urn around in a circle. Only men who are part of the Brahmin caste can act as pujaris.

Goutan had us slip out before the finale hoping to avoid the crowds. But it was the most crowded throng of people, motorcycles and stray animals we have been in. He somehow bargained for enough rickshaws for our entire group.

He took us to an amazing local restaurant run by yet another friend. He is working it right, we have all decided we want to go back to every place he has taken us. This is paneer masala. It was so good!