India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) (263 page)

The Keshari Restaurant
INDIAN A stern-looking, bespectacled clerk sits counting cash at the entrance of this busy, cramped restaurant (ideal if you’re exploring the Old City) hidden away down a near-impossible-to-find back street (to get here, head down the lane opposite the La-Ra Hotel). Inside, wall-mounted fans and ancient cooling systems blast away while waiters dash between tables packed with locals, pilgrims, and bewildered foreigners. There’s a huge selection of Indian, Chinese, and other dishes, all vegetarian, but we recommend you stick to the Indian fare, which includes an admirable assortment of curries,
biryanis,
pulao,
and traditional breads—you could also opt for a thaali, which comes with an assortment of dishes. It also contains a list of commandments for diners that includes
AVOIDING COMBING OF HAIR
and
NOT WASHING HANDS IN UTENSILS
! Lassis are all fantastic. It may not be particularly relaxing, but this is certainly a place to mingle with real Indians.

D14/8 Teri Neem, Godaulia (Off Dasashwamedh Rd., near Godaulia crossing).
0542/240-1472.
Main courses Rs 35–Rs 120; thalis Rs 55–Rs 125. No credit cards. Daily 9am–10:30pm.

SHOPPING

Varanasi is famous above all for its silk—every Indian bride wants a Benarasi silk sari in her trousseau, and around 3,000 kilograms (6,614 lb.) of silk are consumed by the weaving units daily. Wander through the Old City, or ask at your hotel or the tourist office for recommended wholesalers.
Resham India
(
0542/243-1673
), comes highly recommended as does
Taj Estate
(
0542/245-2228
). Or head for
Ushnak Mal Mool Chand
(
0542/227-6253
), a recommended sari shop in Chowk. Another recommended stop is the contemporary, friendly
Open Hand Shop and Café
(B1/128-3, Dumraun Bagh Colony, Assi;
0542/236-9751;
www.openhandonline.com
)—it provides a respite from the cloying traditionality of the city, allowing you to browse through its varied selection of textiles, furnishings and accessories over some pretty decent coffee.

For an excellent selection of Indian fiction and books on philosophy and religion, not to mention good CDs, visit
Kashi Annapurna Book House
(B1/185B, Main Assi Ghat;
0542/231-5992
), a small enterprise near Ganges View Guesthouse.

Death as Road to Salvation?

Of all the sadhus (ascetics) and holy men you will see in Varanasi, perhaps the hardest to understand without brutal judgment are the Aghori sect and their rituals. You may spot the occasional Aghori at a shamshan ghat (cremation ground) in Varanasi, usually with matted hair and no clothing, or just covered in white ash, or at most wearing a funeral shroud. The skull he carries is his cranial eating and drinking bowl. Aghoris roam the cremation grounds, where they may smear themselves with the ash from the pyres and/or meditate sitting atop a corpse. It is alleged that as a once-in-a-lifetime act they sometimes also eat a piece of a corpse’s flesh. While their rituals are extremely radical and even abhorrent to most, it’s interesting to understand what underlies this behavior. Aghoris believe that acting contrary to the accepted norms and taboos of Brahmin ritual and belief is the necessary path to enlightenment. As a result, they eat meat, drink alcohol, and smoke intoxicants. By seeking to reverse all values entrenched within mainstream Hinduism, they choose to embrace all that a Brahmin considers impure. Close contact with the dead, they believe, is a way of focusing on their single-minded quest to live with reality. The funeral pyre is thus for the Aghoris a continual reminder that everyone has to die, and their obsession with death an attempt to live in intimate awareness of it.

4 Khajuraho

600km (372 miles) SE of Delhi; 415km (257 miles) SW of Varanasi; 395km (245 miles) SE of Agra

Legend has it that when the moon god saw the young maiden Hemavati bathing in a river, her beauty was such that he descended to earth to engage in a passionate affair. Before his return to the celestial realm, he swore she would bear a son who would one day erect a great temple to celebrate the beauty of their divine love. Thus the founder of the mighty Chandela dynasty, a robust clan of the warrior Rajputs, was born, and between
A.D.
900 and 1100, the Chandela kings—who settled in remote Khajuraho, where they were clearly unhindered by the usual distractions of fighting off invading forces—built not one but 85 temples, almost all of them featuring exquisite sculptures of men and women joyfully engaging in the most intimate and erotic acts. The Chandelas held sway here until the start of the 13th century, when the Sultans of Delhi strengthened their hold over vast swaths of central North India. By the end of the 15th century, the temples were abandoned, hidden deep within thick jungle, until their accidental discovery by a British military adventurer in 1838. By this time, 7 centuries after the political decline of their Chandela creators, only around 24 of the original 85 temples were found. Today these UNESCO World Heritage Site monuments are famous for their erotic sculptures, images that—despite being transgressive by India’s conservative contemporary standards—are almost as intimately associated with India as the Taj. But the temples also represent an outstanding synthesis of advanced architecture and refined sculpture, and their beauty means that a trip here should definitely be included in your North India itinerary, particularly if you plan to fly from Agra or Delhi to Varanasi.

Khajuraho