Of the many festivals that define India’s holiday calendar, Diwali — the festival of lights — is one of the most important. The five-day event marks the triumph of good (light) over evil (darkness), hence a colorful celebration where people dress up their houses in twinkle lights, gorge on sweets, then shoot off fireworks all night long. The overall effect is Christmas meets the Fourth of July, so it’s essential to find a good place to catch the lights show.
India's always festive altars get an extra dose of holiday flair
Fortunately for us, we managed to snag the last pair of train tickets heading east from Delhi to Varanasi, one of India’s — and the world’s — oldest cities. Tom and I have visited before (this is actually my fourth time), so we knew the crumbling warren of alleyways and rooftops overlooking The Ganges River, aka the Ganga, would be a great place to celebrate. Unfortunately for us, the train was hopelessly packed, even by Indian standards. We shared a six-bed sleeper car with four paying tourists and at least twice as many people without tickets, including one man who tried to pose as our tour guide whenever train police walked by.
Varanasi view
The Ganga — and for that matter, the town of Varanasi itself— are both very important to Hindus. The city is considered one of Hinduism’s seven holy cities, hence the pilgrims who flock here in large numbers, sometimes even waiting to die. (Dying here apparently allows one to skip all the reincarnation cycles, and riverfront cremations are wildly popular). Meanwhile, the river — despite being so polluted that the fish inside struggle to stay alive — is considered the lifeblood of the country, coming in from the north, hooking right at Varanasi and then spilling into the Bay of Bengal near Kolkata.
Washing away dirt and sins in the Holy river
Holidays aside, Varanasi is a must-see for anyone visiting to India. We spent our first day strolling along the Ghats — as the riverfront banks are known — then wandered through the colorful alleyway maze of shops selling samosas, saris and chai. Children bearing firecrackers skipped through the crowd, dodging cows, scooters and lighting off sparklers, while beggars and touts gave us their full attention. For the most part, the city looked the same as it did during our last visit 4 years ago; vendors still hawk river cruises on rowboats that look barely seaworthy, people still wash their clothing — and bodies — right in the river, and waiters still serve beer in teapots, because the town is technically dry.
Graffiti and goats along the Ghats
There were, however, a few notable differences. First off, Varanasi is fresh off the heels of a bad monsoon, with record flooding that left meters-high residue on some of the banks; according to local papers, the water reached some of the rooftops. Secondly — and on a lighter note — Tom has grown a beard, which basically makes him a celebrity in a country that places huge premise on all forms of facial hair. “Nice beard,” Indian man after Indian man nodded with approval, extending his hand and / or twitch of his own mustache in return. As such, Tom has been shaking hands with lots of people, at least until one man turned out to be an undercover masseur who — much to his embarrassment, my delight — launched into an al fresco riverside massage.
Cleaning up after a record monsoon
As it turned out, Diwali was 100 percent worth the hassle of getting here. We walked out of our hotel room to find someone had placed a flower garland and oil candle outside our door. We ate dinner at a nearby rooftop restaurant, enjoying spicy daal and cheese naan with a front row seat to the fireworks show happening around town. Down at the river, holiday makers were floating candles along a slowly moving current, while others gathered to launch paper lanterns into the smoggy sky. It all added up to a very special evening, and that was only night one. Moving forward, we’ll be making the Festival of Lights a regular feature on our holiday calendar.
Jen Swanson