In Varanasi, Politics And Pilgrimage Go Hand In Hand

The city바카라�s ghats are eternal. So are the rituals around them. But less than a kilometre away, its Member of Parliament (MP), Narendra Modi, has begun to sculpt Varanasi in his own image. His passion project, a complex around the Kashi Vishwanath temple바카라�constructed by the Maratha ruler Ahilyabai Kolkar a century after Aurganzeb had demolished it바카라�began in early 2019. Preceding the Ram temple construction, it inverted the Hindutva war cry, 바카라�Ayodhya toh sirf jhaanki hai, Kashi aur Mathura baaki hai바카라� (Ayodhya is just a glimpse, the whole view바카라�of Kashi and Mathura바카라�is unfinished).

Both projects have created palatial complexes, displaced residents, and imposed uniform aesthetics, right down to the shops바카라� boards on the revamped roads, which have the same colour, design, and font. Years after the inaugural show, most boards in Varanasi, with random missing letters, refuse to pretend: 바카라�Vastralay바카라� doesn바카라�t have an L; 바카라�Garment바카라� doesn바카라�t have an N; 바카라�Store바카라� has become 바카라�Sore바카라�, and 바카라�Gandhi바카라� 바카라�Gadhi바카라�.

Like the Ram temple, the Kashi Vishwanath corridor mixes business and devotion. It has a food court, a bookstore, a multipurpose hall (available on rent for 바카라�Upanayan, haldi, and Vedic marriage바카라�). HDFC Bank powers donation boxes; SBI and Canara Bank provide ATMs; LIC free drinking water. Connecting the Manikarnika Ghat to the main temple, via the riverbank steps and canopy-shaped shelters, the plush corridor can make you forget that you just crossed what used to be someone바카라�s bedroom, shop, or temple. Some signs of that destruction are still visible: adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath complex lies a disfigured ashram and a school.

The neighbouring Gyanvapi mosque, with dilapidated domes, looks paler. Two cops, around 50 metres from each other, forbid me from entering the mosque, parroting the same reason: that the disputed property isn바카라�t open to Hindus. The local Muslims can pray inside, but the cops check the IDs바카라�sometimes even Aadhar Cards바카라�of 바카라�suspicious바카라� Muslims, whose faces they don바카라�t recognise or who reveal signs of being an outsider, such as not knowing, or asking for, directions. I, too, asked for multiple directions to enter the temple바카라�mostly from cops바카라�but I never became a suspect. You can be a lost Hindu in Varanasi, not a lost Muslim.

Like the different forms of Shiva바카라�a creator and a destroyer, a hermit and a husband, cave-dwelling and bhang-guzzling바카라�his city is a paean to multiplicity. Just take the two-kilometre stretch from Dashashwamedh to Assi Ghat, where you바카라�ll find an astounding diversity of architectures, origins, regions, religions, castes, and customs. There바카라�s a Jain Ghat, a Nishad Ghat, a Tulsi Ghat, a Janki Ghat. They바카라�re quiet and clean, with toilets, dustbins, and changing rooms바카라�including one floating on the river바카라�at regular intervals. 바카라�Modi does what he promises [such as building the temple corridor and repairing the Ramnagar bridge],바카라� says a 72-year-old priest at Dashashwamedh Ghat. 바카라�I haven바카라�t seen a PM like this ever in my life, son. It feels like, in the last 10 years, we바카라�ve found a God.바카라�

Not far from Tiwari sits an 18-year-old boy behind a board that says 바카라�20 year experience, lifetime practitioner, Banaras Hindu University바카라�. Like his guru, Ayush Shukla is pursuing Vedic studies, hoping to be an astrologer. He praises Modi renovating the ghats바카라�especially the 바카라�changing rooms for our mothers and sisters바카라�바카라�then launches into a charged monologue: about a shivling found in Gyanvapi; Hindus 바카라�lacking unity as compared to Muslims바카라�; and how after Ayodhya and Varanasi, it바카라�s now 바카라�Mathura바카라�s turn바카라�. Sitting close to him, a bespectacled man, Gyan Chandra, starts singing his own tune (quite literally, comprising shlokas from the Ramcharitmanas) and explaining the etymology of the word mandir and calling Modi 바카라�a guide for Hindus바카라�.

The stories keep mutating on the way to Assi Ghat: a baba asks for Rs 1,100 for getting his photo clicked; a young blue-collar worker, swaying and slurring, asks for a cigarette; architecture students from a college in Gujarat examine the Tulsidas Ghat. The revamped Assi has a food street, wide shelters, and an LED screen displaying ads. Two guava sellers on the opposite ends of the ghat, Manab Pramanik and Chotu Biswas, admire the recent changes (and their architect, Modi): a booming business, a developing city, a fancy ghat (바카라�which was just a drain before바카라�). But they differ on one crucial issue. 바카라�[Gyanvapi바카라�s] existing structure should remain intact,바카라� says Pramanik. 바카라�You keep your religion, I keep mine.바카라� Biswas: 바카라�The mosque won바카라�t stay for long바카라�and it shouldn바카라�t.바카라� He laughs. 바카라�Modi will make it vanish; he바카라�s dabang.바카라�

바카라�Balwa ho jayega [a riot will erupt],바카라� interrupts a man near him. Biswas replies, 바카라�Nothing will happen.바카라� The man says, 바카라�Ayodhya is Ayodhya. But if something like that happens in Banaras, then you바카라�ll fall and so will I. If I demolish your house and make a toilet there, how will you feel?바카라�

Less than five minutes away is the Harmony Book Shop, whose owner, Rakesh Singh, has spent five decades in the city. He, too, has witnessed recent unparalleled changes: the loss of peace, the swelling of visitors, the 바카라�pilgrims to picnic바카라� transformation, and the age of tourists바카라�many in their early 20s. When they come to his shop, he asks them what brings them to Varanasi. 바카라�Most of them say two things: Instagram posts and reels.바카라� One woman was more specific: 바카라�[The social media influencer] Beer Biceps.바카라� Such attention on the city, he says, 바카라�doesn바카라�t come from inside but through someone influencing your thinking. It바카라�s romanticising something out of context.바카라�

As Singh continues to talk, a few customers enter the store, take off their shoes near the entrance, and pick up books wrapped in plastic covers바카라�all of it accompanied by the sounds of shehnai on the stereo. If people on the ghats, and elsewhere in the city, praise Modi and dismiss all concerns about those who lost their homes and shops바카라�by saying 바카라�they got twice the original amount바카라�바카라�then Singh responds, 바카라�But they had to leave. They didn바카라�t do it voluntarily.바카라� Development, he adds, must be inclusive and balanced and holistic바카라�바카라�You can바카라�t erase the past바카라�. And the Banarasis who had to leave their homes must be suffering a 바카라�haunted nostalgia바카라�, as they relocated to communities devoid of friends, ancestors, or memories. 바카라�It can바카라�t be measured in monetary terms. Those who talk about [hefty] compensations are the ones who haven바카라�t lost their own homes.바카라�

But at least one thing in Varanasi has remained eternal: its gullies. Less than ten feet wide, their narrowness contradicts their ambition and chaos. At most times, they hold, besides shops on both sides, pedestrians, workers, cycles, scooters, bikes, Activas, cows, dogs, and anything else that can바카라�and must바카라�fit in this alternate universe of spatial and temporal disconnect. What makes it better (or worse): that the traffic in gullies runs both ways. You can바카라�t walk straight for more than a few seconds. Something must distract and disorient you: You lurch left to give way to a bike, but what about the scooter coming from behind? An abrupt disturbance, such as a few dogs chasing a cow, can throw you on the wall. People race their bikes as if cruising on a six-lane highway, and amid all the claustrophobic clusterfuck, the beautiful murals바카라�depicting key mythological scenes바카라�prod you to slow down. The rules of the normal world don바카라�t apply to Banarasis and their gullies바카라�they바카라�re truly made for each other.

Around a kilometre away from the Kashi Vishwanath temple lies a maze of such gullies바카라�spilling stores, markets, and shopping plazas바카라�in a locality, Daalmandi, where bagpacks, niqabs, and kurtas hang from tarpaulins jutting out from stores. A tea seller clangs ceramic plates while he walks; hawkers strain their lungs to attract customers (바카라�Bees rupees mein kangan바카라�, 바카라�bachchon ka kapda바카라�, 바카라�make-up ka saamaan바카라�바카라�bangles for 20, clothes for kids, equipment for make-up), as a steady stream of men and women, wearing prayer caps and burqas, pass by. Barely any place to sit, stand, or stroll, and yet the lanes overflow with customers, business, desperation바카라�and a message: a man covering his head with a saffron gamcha darts on a bike with a Jai Shri Ram flag.

In the decades before and after independence, according to locals, this chaos had consorts, and this market was a mehfil. Music rolled from the two-storey houses above the shops: an aalaap, a thumri, a tabla, a shehnai. Daalmandi produced doyennes of Hindustani classical music belonging to the Banaras gharana: Jaddan Bai, Husna Bai, Rasoolan Bai, Gauhar Jaan, Siddheshwari Devi, Nirmala Devi, and several others. But it all stopped by the early 바카라�70s, when the tawaifs fell on hard times, and the cops, equating them to sex workers, ousted them.

Today, it바카라�s difficult to even find their remnants in Daalmandi바카라�the haveli of the great tabla player, Lachhu Maharaj, for example, is now a small shopping complex that sells mobile accessories바카라�but one house still stands: Ustad Bismillah Khan바카라�s. But finding it is not easy. The shopkeepers point to a series of gullies narrowing with each turn. Bikes and trash clog the lane outside his house (whose nameplate reads 바카라�Bharat Ratan Ustad Bismillah Khan바카라�), and in a city prone to power outages, a street lamp glows at 2:50 in the afternoon. Fabled performers live as if they바카라�d never die, but this run-down residence makes you believe Khan never lived.

Adjoining it sits a 75-year-old shopkeeper, Nasibullah (바카라�urf Kallu바카라�), who, almost as old as India, talks about the city바카라�s past and present, development and disenchantment. Like Singh, he explains how the corridor project has disrupted 바카라�sukoon바카라�, increased traffic, and constricted progress to a small area around the Kashi Vishwanath temple. He cites Daalmandi바카라�s decline as an example: a locality flowing with filth (바카라�these lanes were swept twice a day바카라�the gullies used to glow바카라�), a market spiralling out of control (바카라�from 100 to 2,000 shops바카라�), and profits dwindling to a naught (leading to 바카라�bhookhmari바카라�).

This Banaras doesn바카라�t appear in Instagram reels or YouTube shorts. This Benaras doesn바카라�t have 바카라�I ♥ Kashi바카라�. This Banaras tried hopping on the vikas train and fell on the platform. On February 2, 2024, two days after the district court allowed Hindu prayers in the Gyanvapi cellar, a disconcerting stillness zipped through Daalmandi, as scores of stores remained shut. A month later, the municipal corporation shuttered 26 meat shops within the two-kilometre radius of the Kashi Vishwanath temple, including some in Daalmandi, implementing the Varanasi Nagar Nigam바카라�s new proposal. Besides the meat ban, Councillor Indresh Singh suggested two more changes (which also got approved): widening the roads in Daalmandi, which would allow the Hindu pilgrims easy access to the temple, and increasing the rents of 145 shops in the locality. 바카라�The old tawaifs have left,바카라� a shopkeeper said, 바카라�but the new ones have arrived.바카라�

Like most Indian cities, Varanasi is no stranger to contradictions바카라�old and new, dirty and swanky, neglected and developed바카라�whose biggest example pops on the newest ghat, inaugurated less than two years ago, NaMo. Three bronze statues of folded hands (25-feet and 15-feet high) awe the tourists who mimic the pose and get their photos clicked. A fourth statue바카라�bigger than all of them combined, at 75-feet바카라�is under construction.

This Ghat also compels you to think about the man making and unmaking Varanasi, Modi, and his ultimate goal and competition. No, not with Nehru. Look somewhere else, read between the lines. Start with his constituency buzzing with the chants of 바카라�Har Har Mahadev바카라�. For his 2019 election campaign, its MP substituted Mahadev with Modi. Even the 바카라�NaMo바카라� Ghat works both ways: venerating Modi, via his acronym, and the Almighty via a Ganesh mantra (and sure enough, two vertical slabs bookending the statues read, 바카라�Namo Namah바카라�).

The glitzy promenade바카라�which also has a splash pool, inflatable castles, trampolines, and toy rides바카라�contains enough distinctive features (complemented by aesthetic lights) that could produce appealing photos, making numerous people flash their phones. It makes sense: a government that has aced the social media game would know how to create selfie points. By blending ancient tradition and modern pomp, the NaMo Ghat does something else, too: making Hinduism cool. Especially for young Indians who constitute a large share of the country바카라�s population who can be moulded by the pro-government influencers who, as an added incentive, received the National Creators Awards presented by Modi two months ago.

Even though Banaras is considered the city of Shiva, Ram isn바카라�t absent here. You can listen to his bhajans playing at the ghats, see his large portraits in shops, and even hear the sporadic 바카라�Jai Shri Ram바카라� chants outside the temple. What바카라�s equally striking? On April 25, at least two cops guarding the Kashi Vishwanath gate had a saffron vermillion and a tilak on their foreheads. Exiting the same gate, another cop raised his hands gesturing pranaam, facing the temple.

A gold-coloured statue of the Nandi bull stood nearby wearing a garland and a loincloth. Devotees lined up near it, whispering their wishes in its ear, hoping they바카라�d reach Shiva. It바카라�s also believed that Nandi always faces the deity, and nothing can come between them. This Nandi, though, had its back towards the Kashi Vishwanath temple. What did it face instead? The place where many Hindus, including the Modi government, believe the actual shivling resides: the Gyanvapi mosque.

Right opposite Nandi, beyond the temple gate and the mosque grills, lay a Gyanvapi cellar바카라�or 바카라�Vyasji Ka Tehkhana바카라�. Large bulbs lit the basement; a saffron cloth, with more than a dozen Om signs, hung on the wall, and under it, three idols sat on an elevated platform. Many devotees stood outside, pressing their palms and closing their eyes. And in that instant, it felt as if the whole mosque had ceased to exist for them바카라�and what stood in front, and in their minds, bodies, and souls, was a temple. Several Banarasis had told me that God lived inside them, that true faith could turn a stone into a deity, and that the word 바카라�mandir바카라� itself came from the combination of 바카라�man바카라�, which meant 바카라�heart바카라�, and 바카라�dir, a place to stay바카라�: 바카라�So where does the Lord stay? In our hearts.바카라�

As the praying continued, three burly monkeys ran outside the temple and leapt into the mosque. A cop, sporting a handlebar moustache, said, 바카라�Kabhi bhi Hanuman-ji ka akraman ho sakta hai바카라� (Lord Hanuman can attack us anytime). A man wearing a saffron cap peeked into the mosque and said, 바카라�Jai Bajrang Bali.바카라� The monkeys glared at him, making him recoil. They kept jumping on the parapet, rippling a mini-panic among the pilgrims. Soon, they got down from the grills and ambled in the lane leading to a security checkpoint, as a bhajan played in the background: 바카라�Tu hi bigaade, tu hi sanwaare, Is jag ke saare kaam/Hey Ram, Hey Ram (You create, and you destroy this universe/Hey Ram, Hey Ram).바카라�

Tanul Thakur in Varanasi

(This appeared in the print as 'Pilgrim's Politics')