Journeys & Pilgrimages

This ancient place has been a living museum. I don’t know when I will be in India again so trying to soak up all the information I can. Besides tourists Hindus and Buddhists make pilgrimages to Varanasi. We saw several groups of Hindus from other regions like the South, monks from Thailand, and Buddhists from other regions visiting the Ganga river and Sarnath (location of Buddha’s first preaching) respectively. 

Today I learned: 

1. Varanasi is the place to go for handmade silks and raw silk in beautiful colors. Jamdani sari style is different and varies from region to region and is always quite ornate. 

1. Buddhism began in about 500BC after at age 29 Buddha left his wife and new baby to discover the cause of suffering.  By 3rd century BC the Ashoka dynasty started spreading Buddhism all over media and further east where it proliferated. 
2. Hindus consider Buddha, Vishnu reincarnated and therefore consider Buddhism an offshoot of Hinduism. Buddhists do not believe the same.
3. Stupas were the meeting place for early Buddhists. And they look like small platforms made of brick. Due to natural conditions these stupas at Saranath were covered by the ground and ultimately uncovered when archaeologist Air Alexander Cunningham investigated and excavated the region. 

1. The smiling Buddha is a Chinese variation of Buddha but the original  Buddhism of India is younger, slimmer, and curlier haired. He never intended Buddhism to become a religion but more of a philosophy. It was Gupta’s empire almost 1000 years after Buddha’s enlightenment that Gupta erected statues of the curly haired Buddha all over India. Buddhism began to incorporate idols into the religion as a result.

And even though I’m not on a religious pilgrimage, it has been a journey and a joy to be immersed in another part of the world, learning and enjoying time with family and friends (new & old)!