It was an unforgettable sight! The birds were flying around the boat in flocks, shrieking; they had white wings and orange beaks. I had never seen such birds before. Our guide handed us a packet of chips and I threw some into the water. The birds swooped down and snatched the pieces from our hands!  

We were in Varanasi, and I was with my family and friends.  

It had been a long journey. We had started from Delhi on the evening of November 29, and were scheduled to reach Varanasi the next morning. But, to our bad luck, the train was late by five long hours.  

When we arrived in Varanasi I was disappointed. The roads were dirty. There was rubbish everywhere. We went to the banks of the river Ganga. The place looked very old; the buildings and steps were quite shabby. Our guide pointed to a building and showed us a mark on it. He explained that that was how high the water rose when there were floods. 

Then we went boating. All along the banks there were the ghats, or cremation grounds. I counted 64 ghats including Harishchandra ghat, Manikarnika ghat, etc. Harischandra ghat is named after King Harischandra who is known for his truthfullness. The king was defeated in battle and was ordered to leave the country with his wife and son. When they reached Varanasi, however, the great sage Vishvamitra blocked his way. He told him that it was the last day for the king to give him some promised money. To keep his word, the king was forced to sell his wife and son. But Vishvamitra was not satisfied. So the king sold himself to a man who looked after a graveyard. He worked there for many years burning dead bodies. His wife and son too endured a lot of hardships.  

One day, the king’s son died and the wife took his body to the cemetery. The king was the watchman of the burial ground, but they did not recognise one another. The king told the woman to sell her talisman. She was shocked because only her husband could see the talisman. They both then recognised each other.  

In the end, the gods gave the king back his riches and his kingdom and they lived happily ever after. Our guide explained that Harischandra ghat was where the king had worked as a watchman. 

We could see pyres burning all along the banks as people brought in dead bodies to cremate. The air was filled with the smell of burning flesh. As we were returning, two people in a wooden boat took a body into the middle of the river and put it in!  

We also visited the golden temple of Sri Kashi Vashvanath. And the famous Sarnath where I saw the Ashoka stupa founded by Emperor Ashoka. As I looked at it I thought it looked familiar. And then I remmbered... I had seen it in my history textbook! 

(Shruthi Dileep studies at Excelsior English School, Kottayam)

InfoChange News & Features, January 2009