Luxury Travel to Varanasi

India’s Holy City, the city of lights, Varanasi borders the Ganges River (which, in Hindu mythology, was attributed to have bubbled forth from the sacred tresses of Lord Shiva, the deity believed to have founded the city) on its eastern side. One of the seven most holy pilgrimage destinations of the Hindu religion, Varanasi is—according to various scriptures such as the Rig Veda and the Ramayana—approximately anywhere from 3000 to 5000 years old. It is, by this count, one of the oldest continuously-inhabited places in the world. It has been said that the Lord Buddha himself chose Varanasi as a sanctified place and had his first gathering there, at which he spoke of the basic principles of spiritual truth and enlightenment.

As befitting its status as a holy city, Varanasi has an almost overwhelming offering of beautifully sculpted temples, ranging from white to gold to red, towering magnificently-tall or perched subtly-small at the corner of crossroads of the streets. The more famous ones are the Kashi Vishwanath Temple (dedicated to Lord Shiva, with a gold-plated spire, and housing the jnana vapi, the “well of wisdom”), the Durga temple (built by a Bengali queen, ochre-red, and dedicated to the goddess Durga, aspect of Devi the Supreme Goddess), and the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple (with “Sankat Mochan” meaning the Deliverer of Troubles, in this case referring to the deity Lord Hanuman). As a further indication of holiness, or spiritual cleanliness, Varanasi has more than a hundred religiously symbolic ghats (series of steps leading down to the Ganges River), either for purifying through bathing, or cremation.

Along with such significant religious affiliations, Varanasi also holds a culturally unique place in India. Literature and art have a strong base in Varanasi, with many renowned authors writing their finest and most critically-acclaimed works here, such as Tulsidas and his “Ramayana”, and Sushruta and his Sanskrit text of surgery. Festivals and open-air concerts showcasing local and traditional music or folk and cultural dances are also common, held at venues like the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple. There is an almost-palpable air of celebration in Varanasi, no doubt a culmination of the positive spirituality and the fantastic celebration of Hinduism here.

For souvenirs from Varanasi, one can always pop over to one of the many small shops lined up quaintly-crookedly on the streets and purchase marvelous silk saris, or bags of hand-packed betel leaves. These are very local industries, specific to Varanasi and the expertise of its workers and craftspeople; it has been said before that the finest silks in all of India, and of those exported, come from Varanasi.
 

Based at the Taj Ganges, we will arrange to have you visit Sarnath, where Buddha first preached his message and the Bhanaras Ghats, which attracts a stream of pilgrims. Also note the cremation ghats, witnessing the living traditions of one of the world's oldest religions.

The backdrop for Deepa Mehta's concluding elemental trilogy, Water, set in pre-independence 1930s India, tourism in Varanasi in the preceding context can potentially present a moral dilemma. Jasmine Yuen-Carrucan writes:

There is a building on the Ganges that was left in a will to shelter widows, but a disobedient landlord has converted the top two floors into a restaurant and guest house, while the lower floor, which is completely rundown, houses widows. Tourists sleep in their luxury surroundings ignorant of the fact that below them women are starving. Even the travelers’ bible, the Lonely Planet Guide to India, has remained oblivious to this and continues to promote "Ganapathi" guest house on Meer ghat.

That tourist accommodation is so literally built upon human suffering is hard to ignore, yet arguments of cultural relativity persists and neither is it anybody's place to dictate a country's customs.