From the Divine to the Human: Varanasi, India—Where the Human and Divine Meet

From the Divine to the Human: India—Where the Human and Divine Meet This is the most awe-inspiring and magical place in India. The Ganges River, which flows from east to west, takes a northward turn here. The city of Varanasi sits on the western bank of the U-shaped river, while the entire eastern bank is a desolate expanse of white sand. This creates a magical and breathtaking scene: each day, the sun rises over the uninhabited eastern bank, a divine realm, and sets over the bustling western bank, the human world. This perfectly embodies the metaphor of the Ganges: holy water from the divine realm, redirected by Lord Shiva to flow towards humanity. Watching the sunrise from a boat on the Ganges is a significant activity, not just for tourists, but also for the numerous pilgrims who flock here from all over India. At sunset, we also took a boat to the eastern bank of the river, where there were some spontaneous markets. In the morning, I booked a boat directly through the owner of our small guesthouse. Since we were staying near the burning ghats in the north, we negotiated a one-way trip, where the boatman rowed us all the way south to the pier near Varanasi University. We felt quite clever, as other boats offering the same price for a round trip returned quickly, while we spent a long time on the boat, taking in the entire Ganges riverbank.