Morning walk - Kashi Vishwanath Temple

No photos were allowed in this temple, which is the most sacred shrine in Varanasi and inside a large complex that is heavily guarded. So many heavily armed military guards! This is because of occasional conflicts with the mosque next door, which was built by a Mughal emperor after he destroyed the temple that had been on the site. Evidently some Hindu revivalists have tried to reconsecrate the site of the former temple.

We had to register with our passports and visas in order to go into the temple. We couldn’t take our phones, bags or even smart watches. A priest took us in and shuttled us through to near the head of the line to go by the shrine itself. It was a very hustled and crowded experience, and an extremely moving experience. Passing in front of the shrine spontaneously gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes. I’ve never felt a feeling quite like that.

On the way to the temple we had a glimpse from afar of the “burning place” as our driver/guide Rajeev called it. I took a somewhat surreptitious photo. Our guide warned us sternly to not engage with people in that area who say they want to tell you about the person being cremated, because then they expect you to give them hundreds of US dollars and they get very angry if you don’t. A guy did try to do that, and he even told Rajeev in Hindi that he’d split the money he gets from us with him. It’s stuff like this and the hawkers who won’t take no for an answer that I definitely will not miss!

After the whirlwind temple experience we walked through some of the old city and visited a virtual museum and small observatory made by the same man as the one in Jaipur. It was getting so hot that we needed to return to the hotel to relax in AC before we continue our explorations in the late afternoon.Read more