To Bathe or Not to Bathe in the Ganges River…


that is the question.

However, when I arrived in Varanasi and set eyes on this holy river, it was no longer a question. I would absolutely positively NOT let my feminine nether regions touch that water. Uh uh uh with a capital U.

For starters, the Ganges River is widely considered one of the dirtiest rivers in the world. The brownish color of the river resembles the color of the delicious masala chai I drank daily while in India. Only it’s polluted with chemical waste & sewage, littered with plastic products and melted ceremonial candles, and has enough cow dung floating in it to help fertilize the country’s soil for centuries.

But more notably, the Ganges River has rotting corpses flowing through its waters. Not just cremated ashes either…full-on dead bodies.

Generally, in the Hindu religion, those who have passed are cremated to be cleansed of their sins and to send all their elements to a higher sphere where they belong. Cremation ceremonies take place constantly in Varanasi, 24 hours a day.

I spent an afternoon watching at least three bodies get burned at the same time, in an almost factory-like manner. Families were lined up with their deceased loved one, wrapped in prayer cloth, awaiting their turn to place the body on top of a raging fire. Needless to say, it was intense.

There are, however, bodies that do not get cremated. According to the locals, five types of bodies are instead “buried” in the waters of the Ganges:

  • Sadhus (holy men)
  • Young children
  • Pregnant women
  • Lepers
  • Those killed by poisonous snake bites

The first three are considered pure already and need not be “cleansed” by cremation. I wasn’t clear on exactly why lepers and snake bite victims aren’t cremated, but I think I heard that leprosy is traditionally feared to spread in the air if the body is burned.

In any case, when they die, their shrouded bodies are carried through the streets accompanied by mourners in ceremonial chant…and then placed in the river.

I asked a local if it’s common to see the bodies wash up on the river banks, and as I suspected, the answer was yes. Because it’s monsoon season when I was there though, the waters were very high and I didn’t see any washed up corpses.

I did, however, see plenty of living, breathing people in the water. The Ganges is considered very holy by the Hindus, and it is common to see them washing away their sins in it. I saw people bathing in it, praying in it, drinking it…swimming, doing laundry.

I even saw a man brushing his teeth in it.

These activities carry on even when a motorboat whizzes by or a herd of cows saunters in for some holy action too.

One thing was clear: it was mostly men. But not for any religious reason. I assume the women stay out of the river for the same reason I chose to. The risk of serious infection is far too high. I like to think of my own body as being pretty darn sacred and I’m not about to put it in rotting corpse juices and cow poo.

Now, I didn’t come all this way (and believe me, it was a long way), to turn down a once-in-a-lifetime cultural experience. The Ganges River is one of the holiest rivers in the world.

So I dared…(are you ready???)…to get in the water…

…up to my knees.

That’s right, my shins and feet are now free from sin.

Parts of my forehead are too.

I was taking photos of people in the river, when this old Hindu man waved me over to sit across from him on the ghat. Next thing I knew, I was receiving an impromptu blessing. He painted my forehead with Ganges goo and colored tika, all the while chanting a series of prayers.

He then put a bunch of orange flowers in my hand, poured water over them and motioned for me to toss them into the river. After that, he chanted a little more…

…and then he asked me for money.

Hmmm ok. Not sure if those rupees I gave him helped free my forehead from sin. But it was still pretty cool I guess. My time in Varanasi was strange on many levels, which I’ll write about later. For now, here are a few pictures.









9 Comments

  1. vy

    The Ganges River sounds pretty disgusting! I can’t believe an old man put dead people juice and poo on your head. I think he just blessed you with sickness! I’m sorry to hear you were feeling so terrible! But I’m glad you had a better experience than last time! I’m not gonna lie, I was worried about you going back there. Whew! You survived! 🙂

  2. Great write up and amazing photos! I’m here with my pop in Bangkok and read him the article and he really enjoyed it. Glad to hear your having great experiences out there! Can’t wait to catch up at some point.

    -Travis

  3. Wow, that sounds amazing and disgusting all at the same time. I love your photos – so glad you posted them!

  4. Anonymous

    cool. And so so gross. Can imagine it’s quite fragrant…

    – Andy

  5. Beautiful pictures 🙂

  6. Anonymous

    You are cute, you should take a bath with alcohol and try to take a massive dose of vitamin C. I am from South East Asia but this one is “terrorizingly” disgusting.

  7. Anonymous

    Dirtiest people of all time,imagine..brushing their teeth beside a rotting corpse!

  8. Carly

    Omg why??? I would not have stuck a toe in. Did you break out in a rash from the knees on down?

Leave a Comment