Assi at first light - the river's name and the morning gathering

In this episode

• Sit on the Assi steps at dawn and listen to quiet river sounds.
• Watch the morning aarti, chanting, and yoga as light rises.
• Offer water to the sun from a lota, thanking the river safely.

Read along

Namaste. Welcome back to the ghats of Kashi. In the last episode we walked the whole riverbank from Assi to Manikarnika in one morning. Today we do something slower. We come back to Assi, the first ghat of our walk, and we stay here until the sun is well up.

It is dark when we arrive. The lamps on the ghat are still on, and the river is black, with small points of light from the far side. Tea is already boiling at a stall at the top of the steps. A few people are sitting on the stone with shawls around their shoulders, waiting. Let us find a place on the steps and sit with them.

First, the name. Assi comes from the Asi, a small river that flows into the Ganga here, at the southern end of the city. Far to the north, another river, the Varuna, meets the Ganga too. The Kashi Khanda, a large section of the Skanda Purana devoted to Kashi, speaks of the sacred area of the city lying between these two rivers. Many people explain the name Varanasi in the same way, as the city between the Varuna and the Asi.

Listen for a moment to what is around you. The river makes almost no sound at this hour, only a small lapping at the lowest step. A dog is asleep against the warm wall of the tea stall. Somewhere behind us, in the lanes, a temple bell rings once and stops. A cycle rickshaw creaks past on the road above. The stone under you is still cold from the night.

So when you sit at Assi, you are sitting at one edge of the old sacred city. For many pilgrims, a walk along the river begins here for that reason.

In Kashi, people also tell a story about the Asi's name. Asi can mean a sword. A local telling says that after a great battle, the Goddess Durga threw down her sword, and where it fell, this small river began. You will hear it told in different ways, and some people have not heard it at all. We share it as a local tradition, as it is told on the ghats.

If you look for the Asi today, you may be surprised. It is a narrow stream, much changed as the city has grown around it, and in the dry months it can be hard to find at all. But the name has stayed with the ghat, and near the meeting point there is a small temple of Shiva known as Sangameshwar, the lord of the meeting of rivers.

Walk a little way up the steps and you will find the pipal tree we passed in our first episode. Under it, a Shiva linga, the plain rounded form in which Shiva is worshipped, sits on its base. Anyone may pour water over it. People come with a small brass lota, pour a little water, touch the stone, and walk on. Some stop for a minute. Some stop for a long time. Nobody is in charge of how long you stay.

Now the sky is turning pale. This is when the morning gathering begins.

In recent years, Assi has had a regular morning programme on the steps. Students who are learning the Vedas sit in rows and chant. There is a morning aarti to the Ganga, with lamps raised toward the river. There is often music, a singer or a flute, and after that, a group of people doing yoga on mats along the ghat. The details change from season to season, so do not be surprised if what you find is a little different.

The chanting is done by human voices, by students who have learned it from their teachers, and we will leave it to them. What we can tell you is the feeling of it. The sound rises from the steps, steady and even, while the light grows behind the far bank. People who do not know a word of Sanskrit sit quietly and listen. Some close their eyes.

If you are there, sit where you are shown, keep your voice low, and keep your phone on silent. It is fine to take a photograph of the river or the sky. When the aarti is being performed, it is kind to put the phone down and simply watch.

Look around at who else is here. Students from the university nearby, which is only a short walk inland, some with books, some with cricket bats. An elderly couple who have come every morning for years. A group of pilgrims from Andhra, the women in bright saris, beginning their day of visits. A family from abroad, sitting quietly at the edge. Boatmen calling softly, asking if anyone wants to go out on the river.

For some of these pilgrims, today is the day of the Panchatirthi. In Kashi's tradition, drawn from the Kashi Khanda, there are five sacred bathing places along the river: Assi, Dashashwamedh, Adi Keshava, Panchganga and Manikarnika. Some pilgrims try to bathe at all five in a single day, and they often begin here, at the southern end. Others do it over several days. Traditions differ, and every family has its own way.

Many people like to see the ghats from the water at this hour, and the boatmen at Assi will be happy to take you. If you go, choose a registered boatman, ask for a life jacket and wear it, even if nobody else in the boat does. Do not let the boat be crowded beyond its seats, and agree the fare and the route before you step in, so that nobody is unhappy later. Sit down while the boat is moving. From the middle of the river you will see the whole curve of the city at once, the ghats rising one after another toward the north, all of them facing you.

A few minutes' walk inland from the ghat is Lolark Kund, a deep stepped tank, very old, connected in Kashi with the worship of the sun. If you have time after the morning, ask the way. It is a quiet place, and steep, so go carefully.

Now the sun is up. This is the moment many people step into the river to offer water to the sun, the offering called arghya.

If you would like to do this yourself, here is a simple way. Stand at the edge of the water or on the lowest dry step, facing the sun. Hold a lota, or simply cup your hands, and fill it with water. Lift it to about the level of your chest, and let the water pour down slowly in a thin stream, back toward the river. Many people look at the rising sun through the falling water. Some say a prayer they learned in their family. If you have a prayer of your own, say it softly, in your own words. If you have none, a simple thank you is enough.

Let us do it together now, wherever you are. Face the light from a window if you are at home. Take one slow breath, and in your own words, give thanks.

Before you step into the Ganga, a few words about safety, because we would like you to come home well.

Bathe only near the steps, where other people are bathing. Many ghats have chains or poles fixed into the water. Hold on to them. The river looks calm at dawn, but the current a little way out is strong, and the bottom can drop suddenly. Please do not swim out, and never bathe alone. Keep children close and hold their hands. In the monsoon, when the river rises and the water runs fast, it is safest to offer arghya from the steps and not go in at all. If the water police or the ghat staff ask people to come out, please listen to them.

Keep the river clean. Do not use soap or shampoo in the water, and do not leave plastic on the steps or in the river. Many ghats now keep a place for flowers and offerings. Use it when you find one.

By the time we stand up, the ghat has filled. The tea stall has a queue. The yoga mats are being rolled up. The boats are moving north, toward the busier ghats, and the light on the water has turned from grey to gold.

One thing to take with you. The day at Assi begins in the dark, with people who arrive before the light and wait for it. Tomorrow, try to wake a few minutes before sunrise, sit somewhere quiet, and watch the light arrive. You do not need to do anything else.

In the next episode, we move north to Dashashwamedh, the busiest ghat in Kashi, and stay for the evening Ganga aarti.

Keep going

• Listen: Assi at first light - the river's name and the morning gathering
• Previous: The ghats from Assi to Manikarnika
• Next: Dashashwamedh and the evening Ganga aarti
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