The Brahmin of the Burning Ghats
LOST IN THE FIERY BACK ALLEYS OF VARANASI, A WANDERER STUMBLES INTO
AN UNFORGETTABLE ENCOUNTER.
teemed with bathers performing ablutions on the landings, or ghats; now,
with , sending molten feelers out into a mackerel sky, bathers were few, and
the ghats were reacquiring a serene, timeless air.
Life in Varanasi,city of Hinduism, and one of the oldest living cities
on Earth, centered around the ghats. Each ghat was distinct: Dashashwamedha
and officious priests; Bhonsale Ghat had its sandstone tenements and
terraced hostels; Scindia Ghat was marked by the leaning and half-submerged
Temple of Shiva. As the breeze died, the bluing