After breakfast we set off through the crosstown chaos and mayhem for an hours drive to Sarnath and the deer park where Lord Buddah gave his first sermon in around 500 BC, after his “enlightenment” and where a vast Buddist monastarial complex was build. It beccaame one of the four places of pilgrimage that Buddhists were supposed to visit – a kind of Buddhist “Mecca”. However when the Turkish Muslims arrrived in the 12th century they trashed the place and it remained hidden and smothered in jungle until a deer hunting Brit discovered it in the late 18th century. Needless to day the Brits did a thorough job of excavating and plundering of the site. Relics were discovered including a few bones and pearls which were chucked into the Ganges. In the mid 19th century it was rediscoverd by another Brit who surveyed the entire site and carted off anything of value to Calcutta and beyond. Lots of bricks were removed and used for a multitude of contruction projects around the Varanasi area. The main Stupa has been restored and the whole site excavated and is now a UNESCO World heritage site and place of pilgrimage.

Very impressive and a welcome relief from the mayhem of Varanasi which we then had to navigate to get back to the hotel in time for the evening sunset ritual along the ghats.

Another boat ride ensued – motorised this time – and some serious jostling for position involving an enormous amount of pushing and shouting as several hundred boats of all shapes and sizes arrived simultaneously.

Tens of thousands of Hindus and tourists lined the banks to participate in the nightly Aarti spectacle of ritual celebration and worship. An extraordinary sight – totally OTT involving flowers, candles, flames and chanting, bells and wailing. This went of for about an hour and was a full-on visual and audio assault on the senses. Apparantly this was a small gathering and on key festive days in the Hindu festive calendar (of which there are many) hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions attend.

It was hard to say which was more entertaining – the ceremony along the ghats or the multitude of naval battles taking place in the river. Suddenly it was over and the flotilla disentangled itself and dispersed. We motored back to the sanctity of the hotel and dinner. Passing a multitude of fiery cremations that are carried out on a 24/7 basis on several key ghats. The practice of Sati where widows were burned alive on their husbands funeral pyres was banned by the Brits in 1829 though there were isolated incidents reported in remote areas on India as recently as the late 20th century.

Tomorrow I am scheduled to take the train to Bodh Gaya where Buddah was enlightened so full on Buddhism beckons………