This is a remarkable book. Over 19 years have passed since it first came out and
it retains an immediacy and freshness that is a tribute to the superb understanding
displayed by the author where her subject is concerned. Books about cities are difficult
enough at all times. A book about a city that is one of the oldest in the world
and always prominent for being primarily a sacred spot is even more difficult. The
usual attempts are either cringe-inducing panegyrics or besides-the-point debunking.
This book manages the feat of being grounded in reality as well as being fully aware
of the nature and troubles of interacting with holy ground and sacred reality. Ms.
Eck is of course one of the most important writers on Hindu subjects alive today.
She happens to be the Associate Professor of Hindu religion in the Department of
Sanskrit and Indian studies at Harvard University along with a slew of qualifications
too numerous to mention in a short review but even by her usual brilliant standards
this is hot stuff.
Banaras is a contraction of the ancient Pali name for the city, Banarasi, which
in itself comes from the Sanskrit term Varanasi. The various epimytological derivations
of this are gone into with some vigor for those who are interested in that sort
of thing. Her most important insight I feel is the recognition that there are two
cities to keep in mind when we talk of Banaras. One is the historical pilgrim spot,
venerable in tradition and now literally creaking with age. The other is the spiritual
Banaras, the Platonic ideal of Banaras, the sacred city of light that stands outside
of time and space and is eternal. This city is called Kashi, the illuminator or
the city of light. These two cities coexist in the popular imagination and they
have their nodal points as well as liminial zones where the devout pilgrim slips
from one state to the other and leaves contradictions to be solved by the literal
minded. This dual nature of Kashi has to be kept in mind at all times if any understanding
at all is to be gained about the most holy place in all India.
For Banaras promises that ultimate Indian goal, freedom from rebirth. To die in
Banaras is to never again be reborn, to have permanently merged into the god-field.
Even today people come to Banaras to die, it is the culmination of a life well spent.
In the grand Indian manner of course, this city obsessed with death is also the
city most famed for the sheer pleasure that people take in living. The Banaras dweller
does not have the sour piety that unfortunately characterizes other places in India;
he has no anxieties about life for the afterlife is taken care of.
The innumerable pilgrim trails that dot the city, the many perambulations and sacred
circles that you can cover are described with a wealth of detail. It is a safe bet
that even residents of the city would not have such deep knowledge of all the sacred
circuits present therein. Banaras is also famous for reproducing within itself all
the other sacred spots of India. Hence going to Banaras is literally and spiritually
to have gone to all India. The fact that Banaras was once a major center for the
yaksha and naga religions is brought out as well as the too easily overlooked fact
that Banaras plays an important role in Buddhist thought and literature too. Today,
however, the city is predominantly a Shaivaite shrine, Shiva's abode par excellence
and both the historical and mythological reasons for it so becoming are well covered
by the author. The various shrines that exist in the city, the various observances
and great festival days are covered in a manner that leaves you awed at its thoroughness.
She picks out a little roadside shrine that even the city residents overlook, and
demonstrates how it used to be one of the great sacred spots of antiquity as mentioned
in the scriptures.
Two interesting historical facts stand out in this book. One is the fact that temples
by the hundreds were demolished during the centuries of Muslim rule. This is a very
brave thing for any author to put into a book as it flies against the prevailing
sentiment that such things never happened and if they did they must not be mentioned
in polite society. Ms. Eck has enough intellectual integrity not to fall for such
things. She also had remarkable tenacity in digging out these ancient sites, usually
left only in ruins when the work of pious vandalism was over or covered over by
burial grounds or mosques.
The second interesting historical detail is about the famous bathing ghats of Banaras.
Much beloved of the photographers as a symbol of Banaras are the steep steps, which
lead down to the sacred river, and even Europeans traveling in the early days of
colonial conquest were taken up by these steps. However the truth is that for most
of its history there were no steps leading down to the water, just plain mud-banks!
The Maratha rulers who dominated India between the Mughals and the British were
responsible for constructing these steps and the oldest is barely four hundred years
old at its outer limit. This sort of unusual perspective fills the book.
The book is written in an extremely readable style and difficult concepts are explained
and elucidated well and clearly. The illustrations used are germane and do not overwhelm
in a picture postcard manner. Ms. Eck has managed to convey a feeling of a living
and vibrant tradition, not of a touristy exotic city. What is even more remarkable
is that she is a dedicated practicing Christian, writing about another religion
with a sensitivity and sympathy that is extraordinary. This is a book that is unhesitatingly
recommended.
Reviewed by Rohit Arya
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