With more than a hundred names, Benares has a boundless range of facets as well. UTTAM SINHA and MANOJ KUMAR MISHRA demostrate how the cultural, the literary, the historical and the political, all merge in this dynamic and fascinating city
As you trudge through the narrow lanes and descend the slippery stone steps to the ghats where its edges touch the ripples of Ganga, you stop and look to the reverend river and turn behind to the heap of mismatched temples and then, suddenly, the mystery of life engulfs you. It is an epiphanic moment like theYaksha Prashna to Yudhisthira in the epic Mahabharata, “And what is the greatest wonderIJ” to which the virtuous Yudhisthira answers: “Each day death strikes and we live as though we were immortal. This is the greatest wonder.”
Benares is that puzzling city; a city of existence and continuity, one of palpable intensity that is forever alluring and perplexing — the enchanting city to wash away your sins and to die in. It is a city you need to know everything about but end up only discovering a million more facets to it; where one convincing story leads to another equally compelling one. The city strains, so to speak, under its own myth; hard to prove but difficult to not believe. The world’s oldest living city has legends, it is said, that go back 10,000 years to the Puranas, the Vedas and the Mahabharata. Each legend has a footprint and is recited with reverence and authority, whether it is Shiva who walked here with his wife Parvati at the beginning of time or Krishna who burnt his duplicate or where Rama came to do penance after slaying the demon Ravana.
And Flows the Prose
But more than anything else Benares is a city of fascinating juxtaposition that immediately instructs and even shocks. The “play of life and death” in the ghatsand in the mandirs starts with the break of dawn and lingers into the deep night with hanging smoke from the pyres. It’s an ancient Hindu city, which is as holy for the Muslims and continues its cheek-by-jowl existence with Islamic and Hindu traditions. It’s a city with timeless customs and traditions as Pankaj Mishra describes in the novel Romantics: “The chess games in the alleys, the all-night concerts in temples and the gently decadent pleasures of betel leaves and opium formed an essential component of the city.” The charm and mystique of Benares has attracted people from far and away and left an indelible impression, the expression of which has never ceased. Mark Twain, one of 20th century’s greatest cultural critics, on his subcontinental sojourn between January and April 1896 confesses: “If you go to Benares with a serious desire to spiritually benefit yourself, you will find it valuable.” He almost never stops describing the city in his book Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World (1897) and saying: “Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks as twice as old as all of them put together”. Interestingly, Twain informs and appreciates getting valuable facts from reading Rev Mr Parker’s Guide toBenares of which little is known but another classic Benares: The stronghold of Hinduism by Charles Phillips Cape first published in 1910 is easily available. While the prose has always flowed in Benares like a muse to an inspired writer; the lens too has been captivated by the surreal expression of the city. Herbert Ponting, acclaimed for his enduring images of the Antarctic from 1910 to 1913, could not resist capturing the sadhus, sants and fakirs on the ghats and the melancholic presence of the havelis in the gullies of Benares.
Cultural Chronicle and Centre of learning
Benares is also a cultural epicentre, a confluence of religion and faith, and a history of tolerance and co-existence that has seen Persian culture and Islamic traditions flourish. There can be nothing more syncretic than to find a Sufi Muslim shrine of Bahadur Saheed visited by thousands of Hindus and Sikhs and Christians. Benares has also been the favourite destination of seekers of all religion who come and take a holy dip in the Ganga — indeed a quintessential example of pan-India syncretism.
It is hardly surprising that Benares has been chronicled by historians, sociologist, satirists, poets, novelists and ethnographers. One has to put all the mythological, historical, anthropological, archaeological and proto-history together to unravel the city’s past. That’s why conflicting schools of philosophy have positioned for intellectual acceptance here through the language (Hindi and its dialect awadhi) that is common and involves larger participation. It follows the tradition of Tulsidas, who was commanded by lord Rama in his dream, to write the Ramayana in a language for the common man and thus Ramcharitmanas orTulsi-krita came about — a simplistic version of Valmiki’s Ramayana written in Sanskrit, the language of the elite. Through the ages, ideas and ideals have emerged from the city and it has equally witnessed interventions from the Mughals and the British to establish ideological supremacy.
Benares never ceases to astound and amaze. While many cities have more than a few names, Benares has a hundred or probably even more. Though officially Varanasi (the secret land between the rivers Varuna and Assi that join the Ganga), the locals proudly call it Benares, after the mythological ruler Benar or simply the making of sweetness or joy (ras). The Jataka refer to the city as ‘Jitwari’, the place that brings good fortune, or as ‘Pushwavati’ (flower city), or as ‘Molini’ (lotus city). Another name ‘Kashi’ (city of light) carries cultural weight. Mentioned in ancient Buddhists texts around the first millennium BC as a great kingdom, Kashi has a resonance of universal knowledge and wisdom.
The deep-rooted tradition also reflects in the food both in the preparation and the eating of it. Relishing the true taste of Benares would mean lining up to the street side food kiosks. The cuisine is part of the larger food culture of eastern Uttar Pradesh and overlapping parts of Bihar. The famous Benarasi nasta(breakfast) of spicy kachori with aloo dam sabji and jalebi has reached legendary status and is found everywhere but the most famous being that of Chachi’s at lanka, a popular gathering area. Then there are the tikki chaats, lassi and thandai, and the different varieties of sweets available at the famous Ram Bhandar in Thatheri Bazar. It is said that the owner soon after India’s Independence had especially made a sweet in tricolor and sent to Pt Jawaharlal Nehru. The tirangaalong with the lal peda greatly add to the appeal of Benares as a place where food and faith come together. Adding further to the mystic of Benares is themaghai paan and a general agreement that it is not to be chewed but allowed to melt in the mouth.
The “ek paan dena” culture in Benares, considered to be auspicious, has a symbolic value at ceremonies and events and thus quite naturally blends with theChaiti, Thumuri, Kajiri and Khayal styles of music of the Benares gharana and the rendering of the vocalists Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Girija Devi, Rajan and Sajan Mishra and Chhannulal Mishra. Though with the younger generation not particularly keen, there is a crisis in the gharana as seen with the dying Dhrupad.
The city’s belief, myth and spiritual power are collectively captured on the ghats that line the west bank of Ganga. Each of the 84 ghats from north to south stretching for over seven kilometres are fantastically photogenic and delightfully architectural but also sees the unfolding of day-to-day life of a multitude of people. The ghats are a lifeline, in fact the only public space in Benares and one can also see the akhadaas (a traditional gym for athletes and martial arts), yet another distinctive feature of Benares. Each ghat has a character about it and a tale to tell. For example, the Assi ghat is the biggest and the liveliest and a favourite of the pilgrims as the river Assi meets Ganga. The Dashashwamedh ghat, where the father of lord Rama once sacrificed 10 horses in an appeal to the Sun, is the most thronged especially in the evenings when the aarti takes place. At Kedar ghat the myth runs that lord Shiva had to emerge from the Ganga as the priest took ill and couldn’t perform the prayer, suggesting the connect with human and god. At the Narad ghat it is said that woman who bathe will fight with their husbands and so no women are seen around this ghat; Manikarnika and Harishchandra are ghats for cremations. One can spend a lifetime studying and observing the manners and mores of the ghats.
Benarasipan
Benares has lived through many folklore and metaphors such as Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb and Tana Bana. The former compares the Hindu-Muslim harmony and friendship to the holy confluence of India’s major rivers, the Ganga and Yamuna, and the peaceful merging of the culture and lifestyle, joint festivities and interdependence. As such Benares reminds people of the incomparable unison of the two communities that share the city space. There is community bonding rather than religious segregation.
The other peace metaphor that is unique to Benares is the Tana-Bana (weaving of the silk sari), which describes the interdependent and easy-going communal existence between the Hindus and Muslims — as interlinked like the warp and weft of a Benarasi silk sari. Tana-Bana emphasises salience of business and that harmony between Hindus and Muslims are not only a matter of their personal consciousness but are also driven by their social being. The Muslims constitute one-quarter of the population, which is substantially large as compared to other cities, and significantly contribute to the local economy. The other ethos which is very popular in the city life is that of ‘Benarasipan’. It is an over-arching collective identity, which loosely translated means a “free-spirited soul with a heart of gold”. This ‘Benarasipan’ accompanied with mauj-masti (leisure and pleasure) appear to support a unique lifestyle in the city and serves as a frame for the inter-faith activities. However, critics often deride the manner in which the mosaic character of Benares has been imaged noting that there is a gradual communalisation and concerns over identity, particularly since the two riots of 1991 and 1992.