Blessed & cheated at the same time

The recent inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham corridor by the Prime Minister brought back memories of my visit to the temple over a decade ago. Being invited for a conference at Varanasi, I was determined to pay obeisance to Lord Vishwanath.

On the second day of our stay, a group of us were taken on a boat-ride from the conference venue to witness the famous Ganga ‘aarti’. Soon after sunset, as darkness descended, the boatman brought us face to face with a magnificent view of tens of priests chanting ‘shlokas’ with brass lamps in their hands. The whole scene, with reflection of burning brass lamps in the river waters, together with bright lights highlighting the centuries-old temple complex, was indeed ethereal. It kindled a desire to visit the sacred temple the very next day.

A friend accompanied me through the maze of narrow streets to a square from where a narrow lane ascended towards the temple. Having been warned not to fall into the trap of unscrupulous priests, when we were approached by a number of people from small kiosks selling flowers and coconuts, we chose the first shopkeeper who agreed to keep our footwear if we bought flowers. A young boy from the kiosk offered to guide us through the temple complex for Rs 200.

We followed him up the narrow lane which was heavily guarded. He took us hurriedly to each part of the temple complex showing us the venerable ‘jyotirlinga’ which is enshrined in the sanctum, briefly giving us historical facts and the myths surrounding them. We were also taken to smaller temples of other gods, Kala Bhairava, Kartikeya and Vishnu, among others.

At each of the temple, our guide introduced us to a couple of priests. At each stop, a priest accompanied us around the idols. Reminding us that we were privileged to be there, each priest offered to do a puja for each of us. Every time, without waiting for our acquiescence, he asked us to recite the names of our spouses, children and parents. Chanting some hymns, we were asked whether we wanted a small or a big puja, asking for Rs 200 for the former and Rs 500 for the latter. I remember, each time he took Rs 500 from me, he said he had completed a big puja for me. This amount was besides the offerings we made ourselves to each deity.

Feeling ourselves to be blessed, we came out in a trance. When we exchanged notes, on our way back to the hotel, I realised that I had parted with Rs 2,500 and my friend half of that amount! It seemed our guide had informed the priests on mobile phone about two gullible devotees from beyond Delhi!