total cost for the trip

500 - cash exchanged in sg
250 - cash exchanged in india
110 - atm withdrawal in india
90 - extra cash
54 - visa
240 - airfare

total tally of 1244 sgd

for those who want a rough guide on the costs

cheers

The burning ghats where u see the two temple towers where corpses are burned

Cremation site of the buddha in kushinagar

Along the ghats of the varanasi on a boat

The ghats of varanasi

Manikartika ghat the most holiest place to get cremented in varanasi

The cool guys in varanasi

Me rupert from england and francesco from italy

The dharmekh stupad where the buddha conducted his first sermon

Inside the main mahaparinirvana temple with the statue of the buddha

In parinirvana posture

Kushinagar the place where the buddha moved on to nirvana

The actual spot where the buddha passed on into mahaparinirvana.. The back stupa contains the relics of the buddha

The triple arch at the entrance of kushinagar

Trian is running extremely late in the middle of the night and in front of me is a railway child

Abondoned by family , caste and living below the poverty line these kids are living like there is no tomorrow.

Not suprising as india have got lots of people living under the poverty line. Its surreal just sitting and waiting in front of these homeless kids and in another way a wakener for me yet again.

And my trian is the only one which is late and I paid tatkal seat at extra 200 rs for it.

For the uninitialed tatkal seats are premium emergency seats whichare only released 24 hours the trian starts. They may be purchased from gov railways its offices or authorised agents.

One gentlement even told me he once paid 1000rs for a tatkal ticket omg

Waiting for the trian in front of the poor sleeping boy in purple pyjamas now.

........... God bless

Sonatalai Railway Station mid way back

Sonatalai Railway Station
Madhya Pradesh
http://m.google.co.in/u/m/B9I3gF

One of the asokan pillars left at the mahabohdi temple

Dun ask me what those people are doing ask me directly but the people are throwing coins on top of the pillar. Yup I missed mine heeee

Ps

A good perspective

GPs

Different stupas that stood the test of time

DPs

The stab which marks the spot where the buddha gained his nirvana

Ps

Sonatalai Railway Station mid way back

Sonatalai Railway Station
Madhya Pradesh
http://m.google.co.in/u/m/B9I3gF

In hinduism buddha is the 9 reincarnation of vishnu

No wonder they revere the buddha so much

The burning ghats of the varanasi

The main burning ghat is the manikatika ghat and was there for a while with all the burning in place.

The burning was really intense chocking up my throw and displayed in full view of the public.

Apparantly the burning ghats are managed by doms or the untouchables and the people who comes are relantless.

As much as 20 bodies or more can be burned at the manikartika ghat and the smoke is really strong. Different wood is used and the most expensive wood is the sandal wood.

The fire have to be taken from the eternal fire of siva which have to be taken to light up the fire.

Different burning pits are for different caste and profession. The top upper levels are for politicians and soldiers. While children pregnant ladies and holy man do not get burned as they are pure and they are tied to a stone and the river ganga flows it away. A really interesting and poigant process i must say.

Even at my hotel i can smell the burning which is very close to the burning ghats.

Coupled with a hot day and also lots of people around with a hospice by the back of the temple where people are waiting to die with or without their family. It is truely a process where we truely see the cycle of life.

Now i get an irritated eye and a stuffed nose from all the smoke.

Rightly called the city of shiva indeed