KETAN JOSHI
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benares and sarnath

From Allahabad I made my way to Varanasi - also known as Kashi or Benares - in a crowded minibus, and had a long walk from the bus stand to Dashashwamedh ghat, the oldest ghat on the Ganga
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A dawn boat ride on the Ganga
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It was very beautiful...
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...But also very cold! Look at me looking sleepy and frozen! 
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Sarees drying on the ghats. What a colourful sight
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The Evening aarti prayers attract a lot of people
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And as you can make out, the temperature is much better.
Sarnath - just a few kilometers away - is the place where the Buddha preached his first sermon after getting his 'A-ha!' moment under a peepul tree. This is one of the four important sites of the Buddha's life - Lumbini- where he was born, Boghgaya - where he attained enlightenment, Sarnath - where he preached for the first time; and Kushinagar - where he died.

I decided to visit the place - and my hotelier's friend kindly offered to drop me to the bus stand - and I nearly had my skull cracked open as his bike skidded on some cow shit and we crashed to the floor. 

​But alls well that ends well - and I managed to reach Sarnath safe and sound
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There is a huge stupa at Sarnath - this was lost and forgotten in the middle ages, and was rediscovered by British archeologists. 
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The place is chockful of ancient monuments and temples
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Even during the Buddha's time, Sarnath was a deer park where the deer were protected and hunting was not allowed. They have built a new deer park there now and pilgrims enjoy seeing the deer and feeding them titbits. 
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Benarasi sarees are very famous! I went and saw a loom and visited a saree shop. 
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I came back to Benares, and in the evening I went for a stroll on the ghats and met several interesting people... including the new age guru SRI SRI Ravishankar, and a panda who told me that the next day was a very important day - Mauni Amawasya. It would be very holy for me to get up at dawn, go to the river in silence (Maun), take a holy dip, and take achman (blessings) from a priest. 
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Well - why not? I had been feeling very dissatisfied with myself for not having taken a holy dip at the sangam, so I made it a point to get up at dawn and take a dip in the Ganga on Mauni Amawasya as prescribed. 

Jai Ganga! Har Har Mahadev! 
kumbh mela
one man goes trekking
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