The city called Varanasi

Because Varanasi is the only city in the world where people settle to die rather than live. I don't think there is any other place in the world where you can witness that death is such a part of life and that it is so integrated into daily life. Death is a necessity of existence. It is the end. It is a new beginning. Or the end of the road. However you interpret it. It all becomes meaningless in Varanasi. Your perspective on death changes. Maybe death doesn't even scare you as much as it used to.

I observed at length how the shell we call the body, which has housed a soul for years, was brought there by other living bodies after the soul had left it, how it was washed and cleaned in the Ganges River, how it was carefully placed among the wood, and how it was given special treatment until it was set alight with fire. Then I witnessed how a human body that had caught fire was lifted and pushed into the fire, no different than a piece of wood. I watched without blinking as the flesh was roasted and separated from the bones, and how bodies that perhaps a few days ago would have caused you trouble if you had harmed a hair were held with tongs like pieces of wood and thrown aside. What shape did the human body take when it burned, what kind of smell did it emit, how it crackled among the wood with the fire…

I experienced it all, second by second. Then, when I returned to my room in the guesthouse where I was staying alone, after those terrifying moments I saw, I thought, "I probably won't be able to sleep tonight", but when I woke up the next morning from my uninterrupted sleep, I realized that I had fallen into the most carefree sleep of my life. Varanasi made me mature 10 years in just 1 day.

When you look at it from the outside, you will see a dirty, chaotic and crowded city. But for those who want to see, Varanasi is a city of spiritual journey. In this city where I had the opportunity to be alone with myself, I changed my perspective on death and felt that I had the courage to leave behind everything I wanted to leave behind. I don't know how to describe these feelings. I learned in Varanasi that a person can die while their body is still alive, and that death is not just the soul leaving the body as a whole.

If you look at India and especially Varanasi as dirt and judge it with statements like “what are we doing there, is there nowhere else left in the world to go?” then this city is really not for you. Because in order to understand this special journey, it is necessary to intend to embark on an inner journey. Because Varanasi is not a city that can be properly visited in any other way. And to be frank, it is not a problem that can be endured with any other mindset.

This is a city built between the Varuna and Assi rivers. The name Varanasi comes from these two rivers. The Mahabharata, the sacred text of Hindus and the longest epic in the world, describes Varanasi as the “City of Lights.”

Hinduism speaks of 3 great gods. Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. Brahma is depicted as a single body with 5 heads. According to belief, due to a disagreement between Shiva and Brahma, Shiva cut off one of Brahma's 5 heads. As a sign of his victory and bravery, he placed a bridle in the mouth of this head, dishonoring it further and carrying it with him everywhere.

No matter how you look at it, we are talking about a history that goes back to 1200 BC. Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in the world that is still inhabited. The small village settlements established on the banks of the Ganges River grew over time and became both a religious and commercial center. In addition, Ashrams, which were not only settlements but also religious education centers, were established here. And the Brahmins began to pass on their knowledge from generation to generation through Vedic texts.

When you look at the city from afar, you will see that everything is in harmony. The chaos you encounter when you enter is like the subatomic particles in the balance and harmony you see from the outside. When that chaos comes together, a tremendous wholeness, an extraordinary harmony emerges. It is very difficult to explain some parts of that chaos, the backgrounds of those parts. But it is not impossible. You just need to know where to start. I started from the ghats. Because Varanasi means ghats.