Boat Rides on the Ganges – February 1-2, 2011

We did both an evening and a sunrise boat ride along the Ganges. From there we were able to see the burning ghat from the water, which was really fascinating. We got to see all the other ghats as well, filled with people bathing and washing clothes.

At the start of our evening boat ride, we did a candle flower ceremony. We were each given 3 candles in little cups and we made a wish with each one and set them down in the water. Apparently if the candles make it to the opposite bank, then the wish comes true. It didn’t look like any of my candles were headed in the right direction. After the flower ceremony we watched the River Worship Ceremony, an hour long ceremony performed nightly. It was so intricate I can’t believe they do it every day. It was really beautiful to sit out on the boat and watch everything happen. When we docked we watched the final part of the ceremony. The stairs leading back up to the main road were lined with people begging. Some just looked poor and other had leprosy. It was the most concentrated area of people begging I’ve seen in India, and it was really sad.

The next morning we woke up at 5am to get ready for our sunrise boat ride. The sunrise was pretty and it was so interesting seeing everyone come out for their morning routines at all the different ghats. So many people were out to bathe. All the women were going in the water in all their brightly coloured saris, while the men were generally going in their underwear. A boat loaded up with souvenirs came up beside ours trying to sell us stuff. No matter where in India it’s always buy, buy, buy!

The river water is so polluted I couldn’t imagine bathing in there. According to the Lonely Planet, water safe for bathing should have less than 500 faecal cloiform bacteria/litre of water, and in the section of the Ganges through Varanasi there are 1.5 million and some points are actually septic. Apparently only 5% of the pollution is from direct users (bathers, the offerings etc.) and the remaining pollution is caused by sewage. In Varanasi there are 32 points where raw sewage flows into the river, right where people go to take their holy baths. So gross. Apparently the government is funding a sewage system program to clean up the river.

The floating shop: