Varanasi City of Gods

London pails next to the 3000 years of worship maintained here by the Vedic priesthood. Its mythical history goes even further back than this. The legend is that Varanasi was founded by none other than the Hindu deity Lord Shiva himself.

It is that this point that the average Westerner or British'er should try to forget everything that they have ever been taught in school regarding Hinduism.

When I was at school, Hinduism was brought up in Religious Education classes. Unfortunately, these classes forced all religions into the structure of Christianity in order to compare them. So, where in Christianity you have God, you had Shiva and under that you had, in place of Jesus, Krishna, and so on and so forth through the angels (the Deva), the priests (the Brahmans), the Bible (the Vedas) and the Kingdom of Heaven (Rebirth). The one thing is that it is clear from such a muddle is that the people who wrote the RE syllabus had little-to-no idea of Hinduism either. Placed into this twisted context it all looks a little crazy and no wonder as the Hindu faith isn't like Christianity in almost every way possible. It is a totally different beast. In the first instance it is vital to realise that "Hinduism" is an umbrella term for a whole host of beliefs all interlocked only by their founding geography -- that is they all come from India. Then you must realise that when we discuss the Hindu Cosmology we are not talking about a Celestial Hierarchy in the same way that we do in Christianity at all. I.E. with God at the top and you near the bottom just above the animals.

No, in Hinduism you are God...

**Note re the music:**

The music is from "Akira". They are singing about the Universal Om, which is basically what the guys in my film are singing about. When I was there I immediately thought of this music and it was in my head the entire trip until I got back. Sure it is not "Indian", but I think that the nature Varanasi defies such limitations.