Waiting for Varanasi - 3 Days To Go

(28th - 29th October, 2014)

What is Faith?

4 days away, we begin to explore the various lenses through which we will look at Varanasi. In an hour long talk with our facilitator, we ponder the meaning of Faith. Of cities, culture, life and love. 

The talk spans various aspects of a city that go beyond infrastructure and facilities. It explores new approaches and angles, ways that have not been tried and tested. 

So what is Faith?

Everything we have created, revolves around faith on some level. 

This intangible emotion that makes us who we are. 

As a city, Varanasi survives on Faith. 

The city has progressed through 5000 years of life, from childhood to wisdom.

All, on the basis of this emotion of faith. 

The next day, our talk consisted of the history of Indian Architecture. As a city that has been continuously inhabited since time immemorial, Varanasi has a LOT to offer in terms of architecture. 

But the interesting element of the talk was, we all took an oath to not look at any pictures or documentaries of Varanasi starting that moment. 

We decided to allow the city in substance, overwhelm us with its reality, rather than to form a bias before even reaching.

And so, we would go to the city of Varanasi with no recent images fresh in our minds, telling us what to look for.

We would go there with open minds, and allow the city and its quirks to fill them.

Later, in order to understand temples and the systems surrounding them, we decided to pay a visit to Gavi Gangadeshwara Temple in Bangalore. And why not? It makes sense to study temples and temple life in our own city before we take off for the City of Temples. So we split ourselves into 3 groups (since 26 people entering a single bus together would probably cause a lot of commotion) and got on a bus from Yelahanka New Town to Kempegowda Bus Station. 

The Station is a beautifully designed circular structure, where each destination has a platform dedicated to it. So the 6 of us got off, and began our adventure to the other end of the circumference, to the platform we were looking for. From there, we took a bus to Baswangudi Ashram and walked towards the temple. Before arriving, we passed Hanumantha Park, which looked absolutely enticing through the metal gate. Succumbing to temptation, we ran into the park and decided to stroll through it once before moving on. The greenery was almost overwhelming. As we passed stone steps and brink partitions, we arrived at a temple, central to the park. Although the main temple itself was closed, we seated ourselves on benches facing the temple, where we saw stone slabs on which representations of cobras and nagas were carved. 'Naga' in Sanskrit implies a deity taking the form of a very large snake. Adhering to ancient traditions of Serpent Worship in India, snakes symbolically represent rebirth and death. Human food and flowers are offered to these statues. 

Hanumanth Park, Bangalore (Paromita Bathija, 2014)

It was a new experience for most of us there, and we ended up spending almost 35 minutes sitting opposite to the stones, sketching and just taking it all in. 

Later, we visited Gavipuram temple only to find that it was closed. Yet, the journey itself and the experience gave us a lot to think about.