The morning Ritual at the Ganges, Varanasi – India

When you go to Varanasi (also called Benares) you should definitely take a morning boat to see all the morning rituals at Holy River Ganges in the beautiful morning sun. See how the Indian Day awakens and all the Hindu come to this Holy River. I even took this trip for a second time when I visited with my father. And I would take a third when I come back!! I can assure you 🙂

Sunrise at the Holy Ganges – Varanasi

Every Hindu would love to start its day like these holy rituals at the Holy River. For us it is a river that looks dirty and is heavily pollutet. It is said to be one of most polluted river in the world. You can not imagine going in there and even drinking some of the water. You can defenitely count on getting sick for a day or two if you would try to do that!

Our boatman was soluting to the sun and after  his ritual I saw his hand going in the water and I saw him dropping water in his hand and putting it to his mouth. I saw that he swallowed…he didn’t spit it out again.

I think I will die if I’d do that.

Hindoe Rituals at the Holy Ganges, Varanasi – India

Everybody is going fully under the water and soluting the sun and worshiping the Ganges. There are many Ghats along the river and at morning time almost every Ghat is occupied. It is great to witness,  the devotion people show.

Impressive Hindu Rituals

Ganges – Varanasi

Holy River Ganges

The Hindu sees the River Ganges as the Holy Mother River. They worship the rivergoddess Ganga. Millions of Hindu come this river once a year to wash themselves in the river and to purify their soul. When the Hindu dies they will be cremated and when possible the ashes will ritually be given to the river Ganga.

You also get to see the burning ghat. The tour I took didn’t went pass the main burning ghat but still it is impressive to see the burning staples in which you can see the bodies of  the deceased.Every day 500 people will get cremated here.

A couple of years ago I was walking in between these burnings. I had a walking tour along the ghats in the early morning. It was really impressive to see upclose. To see the familymembers handling everything whit the utmost care and traditions.

The relatives will go to the Ganges before the burning. They will immerse the body three times into the Holy Ganges before burning with a combination of wood and sandelwood. You will never forget this smell if you have walked here. The family of the deceased are waiting for the body to turn into ashes. They will offer the ashes to the Holy Ganges afterwards.

Morning ritual at Varanasi

At the Holy River Ganges  – India

Costs and Duration

When you want to rent a boat you should bargain real hard. They will start at a high rate but eventually it will half or even better go to three third of the price. This time he started to ask RS 3200 for an hour for a rowing boat. I bargained hard but he seemed not willing to bargain with me.

But within the hour I was phoned in my hotelroom that he had managed to book it for an hour for the price we had arranged upfront… So we ended up paying RS800 for an half an hour.  So it will pay off to bargain and show you are serious 🙂

• You can also rent a motorboat if you want to go further and see more Ghats.

• A good trip also to do is going here at evening time. The Pooja takes place in the evening time at the main Ghat (Dashashwamedh Ghat)

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