Varanasi and the Bomb

It wasn't long after we abandoned our rickshaw and walked into the old city that we noticed ambulances and police cars rushing by us. Police were loosely trying to block access down the main street and a young boy tried to stop me with a stick as I walked through.

We had just finished 25 continuous hours of bus travel which brought us from Kathmandu to the bustling city of Varanasi. Coming to the riverbanks of the Ganga river in Varanasi feels like being thrown in the deep end of India. In the alleys of the old city there are bull cows, sadus or holy men, hindu pilgrims and armed police. Escaping the old alleys often means ending up at a ghat, where deceased Hindus are burned on a funeral pyre. Following this their body is to a rock and put into the Ganges river, upon which the city is based.

At the Dasaswamedh ghat, there is an nightly ceremony on the steps by the river. This is where a small bomb was put in a waste bin the night which I and two Israelis arrived. I was told that in the seconds before the bomb exploded, it caused a disturbance with the stereo system. This cyclic noise was broadcast and then the small device went off, killing a small child and injuring some 30 others including 6 foreigners. I've talked to some locals who were at the event and shaken up. More often people did not seem to pay the event any mind and would continue to try and sell me hash or silk. The bombing was on the 4-year anniversary of a explosion which killed 16 people in 2006.

We continued until an area where even the ambulances could not move any farther. There was enough noise and apprehensive crowd that I knew we had arrived close to the epicentre of some large event. We ducked back into the alleys and began looking for a guesthouse to stay for the night. When we stopped in one restaurant, the staff were watching the news. It was broadcast live from 100m away from us. I thought originally that 40 people had died and that it would be international news. I've since had to search on BBC News to find coverage of what had occurred.

BBC After Coverage of Varanasi Bomb

The ghat and evening ceremonies have been shut down for a few days. Besides that, Varanasi seems to be functioning at capacity. Funeral processions lead steadily through the alleys, carrying a covered relative down to the fires. Pilgrims and mourners with shaved heads move in packs. In the heavily contaminated river, people perform puja, bathe and wash clothes. We hired a boatman to row us along the banks. Varanasi is an incredible contrast of everyday life and beautiful temples against the sights like deceased babies, sadus and cows, which are put right into the flow of the river.

I find it to easy to use the word 'crazy' to describe what I see around. Simply statements like 'This place is insane.' It's not insane but some of it is very difficult to understand. A long description of the funeral pyre tradition was given to me by a Dalit or untouchable caste worker. It's helped a great deal to understand the rules and religious rational.  
Info on Hindu Cremation Practices 
You can see and feel Hindiusm everywhere around you here. Varanasi is a pilgirmage city.

I like it here and will stay for a few more days before heading off. I'll should wait for the first day I can truly navigate the alleys or am tempted to take a dip in the river, then it will be time to go.