Kyoto will transform Varanasi, writes Ajay Mankotia
At the event Modi stated Kyoto had incorporated modern needs with its cultural heritage and the city had been built on the foundation of its cultural heritage.
India and Japan signed a pact to develop Varanasi into a 'smart city' by using the experience of Kyoto. The Partner City MoU provides for cooperation in heritage conservation, city modernisation and cooperation in the fields of art, culture and academics.
Prime Ministers of India and Japan were present at the ceremony. At the event Modi stated Kyoto had incorporated modern needs with its cultural heritage and the city had been built on the foundation of its cultural heritage. In India, too, we are trying to create a heritage city and the most ideal one is Varanasi. The blueprint for Varanasi to follow is Kyoto. With around 2,000 temples and shrines, Kyoto was the capital of Japan for over 1,000 years till the Emperor moved to Tokyo.
Familiarity
Currently, Banaras is a stairway to heaven. The dead come from all over the country, The terminally ill are brought here to live out their last days. The old, and the wretched are abandoned here to eke out the remainder of their miserable lives. Widows find sanctuary here. Ganga receives attention both as an ordinary mortal as well as God incarnate. It receives effluents, as well as reverence. Clothes are washed in it; its water is considered as holiest of holy. The devout take a dip even as half burnt body parts float by. The fish are dead, the dolphins have fled, but the river is a source of life to the devout.
It's no wonder death is treated as a matter of fact here - coldly, pragmatically. Familiarity makes the residents inure. For the relatives, the practical considerations of getting through a funeral in a highly congested calendar of the riverside funeral Ghats are a challenge enough. Grief can wait. Life and death co-exist in harmony. Nothing epitomises this better than floating down a barge on the Ganga and viewing the Ganga Aarti on the Dashashwamedh Ghat, and the burning funeral pyres on the Manikarnika Ghat. One signifies energy, colour, sight and sound: a many-splendored religious and secular extravaganza. The other is a silent, forlorn, dark affair save the multitudinous fires. An entire life cycle is encapsulated by the two Ghats located very close to each other.
The paradoxes are fascinating. A senior lawyer walks every morning barefoot to the Ghats - several kilometres away. He takes a dip, offers prayers, and has breakfast in one of the several mithaiwallahs dotting the side-streets, consisting of doodh- jalebi and rabri followed by tea and paan. He does this everyday. Cows are ubiquitous. The streets are a picture of chaos. This has been the state of affairs from the beginning of history. International hotels, decrepit havelis, modest lodges, dharamshalas cater to tourists of all hues. If you get the best kachauri-aloo you also get ratatouille and apple strudel (in a bakery run by a foreigner) close to Assi Ghat.
Religion here is omnipresent. As is religiosity. Every government officer who is posted to Banaras makes Kashi Vishwanath Temple his first port of call. Without seeking the blessings of the presiding Lord, he will not join duty. How many income tax offices in the country have a temple in the compound? There is a Shiva temple in the Banaras office. A tax clerk doubles as a pujari in the evening. During Shivratri festivities, whilst in the tax guest house, I spent nights listening to bhajans blaring from speakers.
The tradition of classical music continues. The living legends include Girija Devi - the Queen of Thumri whose "purabi ang" she is famous for, and Pandit Chhannulal Mishra, the noted Hindustani classical singer. In spite of innumerable rewards, he stays in a house on a street where no car can enter. His music room is spartan and man himself is very modest.
Six years later, he would propose the name of Modi as MP. Over centuries, the city has attracted people from all regions. But this pluralism has an over-arching Banarasi touch to it which weaves the different strands seamlessly into a unique product - much like the famous Banarasi silk. The selection of sweets is one such example. From "Laung Lata "to "Kheer Kadam" to the heavenly "Malaiyo "(made of raw milk and winter dew), this place is a sweet tooth paradise. Dev Deepavali takes place fifteen days after Diwali. The steps of all the Ghats are lit with more than a million diyas .
Deliverance
The gods are believed to descend to Earth to bathe in the Ganga on this day. Houses are decorated with oil lamps and coloured designs on their front doors. Oil lamps are set afloat on the river. I drink in the sights of the heaven on earth from my boat as it rows upstream. Every Ghat - bedecked as a newlywed bride - has thousands of stories to tell - of history and neglect, of tradition and commerce, of mythology and betrayal. The full moon accompanies me on the ride. Hours slip by and night turns to dawn. The orange blush in the eastern sky , the gentle clamour of the morning sounds - of bathers, wrestlers, temple bells, water birds, monkeys, pyre wood - is one of the most magical moments I have ever witnessed. As the sun appears, a train crosses the Ganga Bridge. Does it portend deliverance of this magnificence to a new era, I wonder! Six years down the line, 2014, that deliverance seems likely. The city's faith in its local MP has dared it to dream once again!
The writer is a former IRS officer