Ganga aarti on the ghats – a sight to behold
The city of Varanasi has a mystical and mythical charm. Its temples and ashrams do not cease to amaze. The oldest Lord Shiva shrine – Kashi Vishwanath – which houses the first of the Jyotirlingas — is pious to the core. Sankat Mochan Mandir – established by famous Hindu preacher and poet-saint Goswami Tulsidas, is the seat of Lord Hanuman. The holy Ganga flows majestically here.
Along its banks are a number of pulsating ghats: Manikarnika Ghat being accorded the highest position since it is believed that those who are cremated here get immediate moksha (salvation). Each ghat has a gripping mythological story and has a history of its own. The evening aarti offered to River Ganga is breathtakingly divine. The diyas (lamps) that float in the river present a shimmering view of the sacred waters. The rituals are soul- stirring. The labyrinthine alleyways create a maze, a puzzle, and form an integral part of the city. There are akhadas where wrestlers vie against each other, keeping a tradition alive. The Banarasi silk sarees are hand crafted and hold fascination for the women. The classical music of Banaras characterizes the city and echoes in every nook and corner. To cap it all is the Banarasi paan – you chew it and know the difference!
So, when Jeremy Oltmann, an American, decided to start city walks in Varanasi, he didn’t know where to begin. He says, “It took me some time to understand the city. I explored it on my own and developed four routes: Southern temples and sacred ponds; the pilgrims’ riverside walk; the city of light walk and northern bazaars and hidden alleys walk.”
Jeremy first visited Varanasi amid Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj (then Allahabad) in early 2001 for a few weeks but by September of the same year he had returned, with the aim of living in the city and participating in a social service project involving widows and children. He had moved to Delhi in 1997 and was volunteering in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre while exploring social service options. During the summers he went to Landour Language School, Mussoorie to learn Hindi and also to Kumbh Mela in Haridwar in 1998 at the age of 26.
Jeremy got interested in the daily involvement of Hindus in spirituality. “It was quite intriguing for me since it was pretty different from my upbringing. I knew nothing about Banaras when I stepped into it. But somewhere deep inside, I felt it was a good fit for me,” he points out.
Jeremy gradually moved away from social work and got involved in academic administrative projects. “It was a slow process,” he underlines. Over the course of a few years, he became an administrator for a US-based study abroad programme and managed to complete his MA in Sociology through IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University).
Jeremy explains, “I started understanding the social structure of India’s spiritual capital and took boat rides while pouring over books written about the city. Diana Eck’s ‘The City of Light’ and books by a local author Prof Dr Rana PB Singh began to unfold the mysteries related to Banaras. Singh’s books explained the cultural landscape of Varanasi in an academic but very enjoyable manner.”
He got pally with Singh and the people in-charge of the key sites in the town. While frequenting these places, he noticed people stumbled over the pronunciation of his name, and eventually Jeremy got the nickname ‘Jai’.
“The geo-sacredness of the city is fantastic. It helped me the walks. To get more familiar with the city, I used
to get up early in the morning and travel across the town to find certain temples or sites,” he says. In the night, Jeremy braved going out to spend time in the cremation grounds, considered an out-of-bounds area. “I explored why certain temples were built and who patronised them and also the significance of the sites.”
Initially, ‘Jai’ took his friends and acquaintances on the walks for free – even volunteering 2-3 times a week. It was informal. Later, after he met a person at a roadside tea shop in Manali in 2007 who used to organise similar walks in Kolkata, Jeremy decided to give a new shape to his walking tours and registered his firm ‘Varanasi Walks’.
“I ventured deeper into the old city and its network of gulleys, or alleyways. I learned local folklore from the residents themselves. I combined all that I was learning in chalking out my walks – curating them in a way I thought someone would want to experience Banaras. I first cut the city into south, mid-south,
center and north. Kashi Vishwanath, the myriadt emples, ghats and hidden alleyways were the central sites.”
“Do you know that there’s a stepwell named Lolark Kund, mentioned in the Skanda Purana, which was built by the maharaja of Cooch Behar, possibly in the 15 th century, and restored by Rani Bhawani of Natore around mid-1700s. Another site I found was a hidden garden in Gopal Mandir where Goswami Tulsidas hid after he was thrown out of the city by the Brahmins when he translated the original Ramayana text from Sanskrit into Awadhi. He took shelter in a limestone cave, before Gopal Mandir was even built and wrote his second book ‘Vinay Patrika’ while he hid there. I also found that the Kabir Math in Kabir Chaura houses the great trishul (trident) of Gorakhnath, the founder of the Nath sect. These nuggets of facts were the basis of my tours. I made the walks experimental, rather than locational, so that the guests may interact with locals and priests rather than just visiting the sites and temples.”
Jeremy talks about the great American humourist Mark Twain, who was taken to a sadhu living in Anand Bagh named Swami Bhaskarananda Saraswati, (located near the Durga temple built also by Rani Bhawani of Natore) and wrote in his book ‘Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World’ about how the ascetic had got magical powers. So much so that the
Manikarnika ghat
king of Banaras would visit him. He has dedicated 12 pages to Banaras in his book. “All of these connections were fascinating to me as I hadn’t really seen anyone tying these ideas together to tell
a story about the city of Varanasi.”
Jeremy says, “The ‘death and rebirth walk’ was created after a prestigious 135-year-old Swiss company, named Kuoni, said its clients wanted to visit Varanasi, but they wanted something surreal and exquisite. He adds, “I made a specialised walk route for a night tour, something that hadn‘t been done before in Varanasi. It included Baba Kinaram’s ashram, and little-known places around Manikarnika cremation ghat, such as Masan Baba Vishwanath, also mentioned in the Skanda Purana and the Kali Badi and Tarapith of Rani Bhawani of Natore, located in Bengali Tola, the area where ace filmmaker Satyajit Ray filmed Aparajito incidentally. I ensured they didn’t miss the aartis from place to place by visiting at the right moments. Touring these places offers insight into unique practices and enigmatic rituals carried out by particular sects of sadhus. I narrate stories about death and rebirth while visiting these places.”
The Panchkoshi Yatra – the 13 th century pilgrimage route that circumnavigates the city — offers an immersive experience, while covering the outer ring of Kashi where 108 old temples are situated. Jeremy has followed in his unofficial mentor Prof Singh’s footsteps by visiting foreigners on these yatras.
Are the walks customized? “On special requests, we do accommodate the client’s wishes. Recently, a British person, who was researching on Twain, wanted to visit all the sites related to the famous author. So, I took him around to places Twain had been to in Varanasi. I also organise colonial history tours, though I often joke that I am not Angrez, meaning English, but rather American and anti-colonial,” he says with a wink. “Once I drove a guest to Lord Cornwallis’ grave near Ghazipur, 30km from Varanasi, which also has the old Opium Factory buildings of the East India Company.”
Jeremy connects his guests to yoga too, providing them more avenues. He took teacher’s training in yoga in Mysore. He practices hatha yoga as well. Interested clients are offered yoga classes. There are three yoga walks currently, including a walk that unravels hidden, uncelebrated yogis of Banaras, like Lahiri Mahasaya, who believed Lord Shiva taught him. The guests learn pranayama and meditation. “We tell them stories related to yoga and yogis.”
Jeremy has a team of six. All of them are local residents, with a passion for the unexplored and having a knack for discovering offbeat routes, stories and sites of interest. ‘Jai’ shares half of the earnings made from each walk with his team members.
Each walk is priced at Rs 2,000 for one person for 2- 3 hours.
Panchkoshi Yatra
It’s Rs 1,600 per person for a group of two; ₹ 1,400 per person for a group of four and for groups of six and above, it’s ₹ 1,200.
Jeremy reveals that since mid-March 2020 when Covid-19 pandemic struck, the business has been “horrible”. “We have lost 90 per cent of our clients. From March 2020 to December 2021, there was only one client a month. Usually, during the peak season from September to March, we have 6-7 clients a day,” he says. Jeremy has restructured his firm with his Italian and Canadian partners as Indoverse Experiences and Tours, which currently oversees varanasiwalks.com and banarasyoga.com.
Earlier, there were more British, Australian and American people coming for the walks. Jeremy tied up with an agency in Goa, owned by a Swiss guy, and his clients wanted boat rides and walks. All of them were either German or Swiss. Today, Jeremy`s clients are 80 per cent foreigners and 20 per cent Indians – mostly the wealthy ones. The government of India has also highlighted heritage walks over the years, which has brought renewed interest into the city’s unique heritage. “Clients are often awestruck at what they see. They say the sites hold power. Recently, I took some foreign photographers on a walk and they were amazed at the encounters with locals that reflected the generosity of the Banarsis. The locals would invite them into their house and offer sweets. Some even took them around their house and showed them tiny temples tucked away in their aangans (courtyards),” says ‘Jai’
Jeremy Oltmann, an American who settled in Varanasi and
conducts heritage walks in the city
Jeremy`s friend from Chicago landed in Varanasi on Shivratri on March 1 this year. “We were walking near Kedar Ghat – where the second oldest Shiva lingam – is located. Suddenly, two figures dressed as Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati appeared out of nowhere. With music playing in the background, the man decked up as Lord Shiva shot fire from his hands and Bam Bam Bhole chants resonated. My friend was flabbergasted.”
Kedar Ghat, Varanasi
Jeremy is multi-talented and versatile. He also works as a DJ in a bar in Surya Hotel in Varanasi Cantt. He plays techno dance music and Kabir bhajans, “Techno and House music, fused to local rhythms, have become hugely popular in Delhi, Goa and Bengaluru.”
“I love the city of Banaras. It is my adopted home. The city has been good to me socially, spiritually and financially. I hope the walks continue and that’s the legacy I wish to leave behind,” Jeremy says.
Tirtho Banerjee
Tirtho Banerjee is a poet and journalist who specializes in environmental issues.