Varanasi- A Divine City in Decay
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In the morning light a photograph hides a city in decay, Varanasi
Story and Photo-essay first published in Tehelka. May 2014.
They say the camera never lies. But shoot in the ‘golden-hour’, with cropped compositions and photographs can also tell a million lies. And its never so true as for Varanasi. Behind the sanitized photos of this ancient city (usually of the evening aarti, morning boat rides and dreadlocked sadhus) churned out in millions by photographers, bagpackers and pilgrims, hides a city in an advanced stage of decay.
The assault of the incessant honking, the traffic snarls, the squalor and the general chaos can be overwhelming even for an average Indian city dweller used to the din. But instead of dismay there is a lazy romanticizing of the city, as a consequence of which nothing changes and the Ganges continues to collect garbage from ghat to ghat.
Perhaps Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who won his election from here, can stem the rot. Or perhaps not. Because the decay is not just physical. It also deeply cultural. And it began over a decade ago when the Hindu orthodoxy ganged up to stop the filming of Deepa Mehta’s film Water. Or maybe it began much earlier with the hardening of the Brahminical view of exclusion that’s best epitomized in the “Non Hindus Not Allowed’’ sign on the walls of Kashi Vishwanath Temple. In an ironic twist the keeper of the sacred fire, Dom Raja remains an untouchable in the city.
The spirit of irreverence and questioning that Kabir, (born in a weavers family here) extolled, is forgotten in a city that’s closing its ranks to the ‘outsider’ or the ‘outside’ view. However, Hinduism finds a way of cocking a snook at all things rigid and puritanical. Overlooking a ghat, barely frequented by any pilgrim, is a temple (Pashupatinath Mahadev) that incorporates the idea of Hinduism like no other temple in Varanasi. Its open to all and every aspects of life, including sex, are celebrated in its beautifully carved wooden sculptures.
Known for its gharanas and having nurtured musicians from Tansen to Pt. Ravi Shanker, Varanasi today in the words of Haji Mehtab Hussain, eldest son of late Ustad Bismillah Khan, “has lost its music”. Musicians, some of them exponents of rare musical instruments are leaving the city to live abroad where they say they get more respect.
The Dom Raja, the undertaker of cremation ghats and keeper of the sacred fires. However he remains an untouchable in the holy city, Varanasi.
Laxman Babaji, 70. rowing boats in Varanasi since he was 5 years old. Boat rowers are considered untouchables too. Varanasi.
God is Beauty. And Beauty God. Evening Aarti can give you a false sense of peace in Varanasi.
Abandoned by their children Varanasi’s widows come here to chant Gods name and die. They live in dark, damp hovels and sometimes beg to get by. Varanasi.
Chitra Devi, 70, has one daughter and one son. Came to Varanasi like hundreds of widows to live the rest of her life chanting Gods name. Varanasi
One of the erotic sculptures on the Pashupatinath Mahadev temple, Varanasi.
Aman Nath Mishra, 73, a sitar exponent. Says there is nothing to encourage the younger people to take up music in Banaras.
Anshuman Maharaj, 28, a Sarod exponent, says no young musician plays the sarod anymore in Banaras. Students come to him for guitar lessons instead. Varanasi
Bunkars or weavers of Varanasi. Children as young as 5 are roped into the weaving industry in Banaras