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Pilgrimages |
People go on pilgrimages throughout India to see and to be seen by the deity. Some deities
are believed to live in specific sacred places. Popular pilgrimage places are tirthas, or
fords, safe crossing places across rivers. Many important pilgrimage sites, such as Varanasi,
also called Benares, are on the banks of the great rivers. The ford was believed in a literal
and metaphorical sense to represent the crossing from one world to another, or from samsara
to moksha. The pilgrimage, an ancient practice referred to in the Mahabharata, is
still popular today. As well as rivers, the Himalayas and certain temples are also places of
pilgrimage. Many sacred sites are associated with legend, others are said to be places where the
gods materialized in the world. Famous sites include Kurukshetra, the site of the great war in
the Mahabharata, Ayodhya, the ancient capital of Lord Rama, or Mathura, the birthplace of
Krishna in central nothern India.
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Varanasi, City of Light: In the British period, the city of Varanasi was known as Benares.
Its other name is Kashi, the City of Light. Varanasi is the most important and sacred pilgrimage center
in India. Said to be the home of teh Lord Shiva, it was here, according to legend, that Shiva's fiery
linga of light broke through the earth to reach the heavens. The entire city, with a radius of
10 miles, is said to be a linga, the embodiment of Shiva. Varanasi is such a sacred site that
many people come and live there until the day they die.
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Ganga, the River Goddess: The Ganges River is the holiest river for Hindus and is especially
purifying at Varanasi. Worshiped as the goddess Ganga, the river originally flowed only in the heavens.
The sage Bhagiratha, whose excellent karma allowed him to ask a favor of the gods, asked for the Ganges
to flow to earth. Shiva broke Ganga's fall to earth by catching her in his matted hair. Shiva's wife
Parvati is popularly thought to be jealous of Ganga, who is also Shiva's consort.
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Sati: Sati, wife of Shiva in his form as Virabhadra, died from shame at her father's
treatment of her husband. Desolated, Shiva carried Sati's body throughout India. To cure Shiva's
obsession, Vishnu cut her up and scattered her pieces. The places where they fell became sacred
sites. The ancient ritual suicide of a wife on her husband's funeral pyre, a means of acquiring
merit and purification, bears the name Sati or Suttee, after the goddess who is regarded as the
ideal wife.
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Ashes on the River: To die in Varanasi and to be cremated there, with ashes
scattered on the Ganges, leads to Shiva and is the best death for a Hindu.
Pilgrims Making Offerings: Pilgrims make offerings to shrines along the banks
of the Ganges River. Every morning they offer water from the river as a salutation to
the rising sun.
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