Along the Mother GANGES

Cruise on small luxury boat provides an intimate view of everyday life in India

The Sukapha is a boutique river boat that plies the Ganges River in India. The boat has a dozen spacious cabins, all with air-conditioning and private bath. There is a large dining room, a small spa and an enjoyable sun deck for relaxing and floating past the beautiful scenery.
The Sukapha is a boutique river boat that plies the Ganges River in India. The boat has a dozen spacious cabins, all with air-conditioning and private bath. There is a large dining room, a small spa and an enjoyable sun deck for relaxing and floating past the beautiful scenery.

Dozens of men are gathered on the vast river at a precisely arranged pile of wood. With a shrouded corpse placed on top, this funeral pyre will be set alight by a relative of the deceased. For Hindus, cremation on the shores of the holy Ganges assures the departed eternal salvation. A trip along India’s sacred stream affords frequent glimpses of these ceremonial rites as the riverboat glides by.

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Street vendors tempt passers-by with freshly prepared Indian foods.

During our deluxe small-ship cruise, passengers gain insights into the religious, historical and cultural world of the subcontinent’s heartland. Many of the encounters could never be had on a land-based group tour. It is the ideal way to experience the rich tapestry of life in northern India.

Arriving at Delhi, my wife, Annie, and I fly to Patna for six days aboard Sukapha, a modern 12-cabin vessel, air-conditioned, clean and well managed. Its staff pampers us from the start. Cabins have tasteful rattan furniture with hand-woven fabrics. A cheerful lounge offers pre-dinner drinks. The spacious topside deck is ideal for viewing the passing scenery.

Dining includes Continental and fine Indian cuisine. Curries - lamb, chicken, fish and duck - are served with potatoes, rice, dal (lentils) and an assortment of flat breads. The spiciness is slightly toned down for the Western palate. After dinner, Niv, our knowledgeable guide, briefs us on the next day’s activities.

Comfortable SUVs whisk us away to visit religious or historic sites, or to stroll through villages and markets. The outings are a crash course in comparative religion and spiritual architecture.

At one Sikh temple, we remove our shoes, cover our heads and join the congregation while an elder reads from the book of scriptures. Devotees bow, foreheads touching the floor. Sikhs believe that nobody should go hungry. A communal kitchen is preparing breakfast for scores of local people.

A beautiful marble-domed Jain shrine, housing the ashes of a holy man, is set in the middle of a lotus pond. Jains practice nonviolence toward all living beings, even avoiding stepping on insects. They follow a vegan diet and have the highest literacy rate and per capita income in India. A young, bare-headed Jain woman in stylish contemporary clothing asks in impeccable English where we are from and wants to be photographed with us.

Most amazing are the red-brick ruins of two ancient Buddhist universities, with meditation cells, lecture halls, and niches containing images of the Buddha. The larger school had 10,000 students and teachers from all of Asia. At the smaller, subjects included the tantric teachings of magic, such as flying and walking on water. Both were sacked in the late 12th century by Muslim invaders. Thousands of monks were massacred. Today, Buddhist monks from Thailand chant, pray and leave offerings of colored cloth, blossoms and money.

Hindu temples feature the many incarnations of Vishnu and other deities, such as Ganesha, with the elephant head, and Hanuman, the monkey god.

Equally enriching is the kaleidoscope of life on the water and nearby banks. Little wonder that the Ganges is regarded as a mother and goddess. She is alive and vibrant and ever-changing with the light and weather and seasons. Midwinter is a cool, dry period when the river is at extreme low flow, exposing broad sandbanks. During the summer monsoon, the water is 15 to 30 feet higher, flooding all the banks and low shorelines.

Winter low water allows thousands of nomadic people to eke out a riverside living in transient, seasonal encampments of thatched huts that are abandoned when the monsoon comes.

Tiny wooden fishing boats flit about. Individuals wade in and cast simple nets. Ingenious bamboo structures stand in the shallows, each with a large net that is raised or lowered by shifting the weight of a single man. Catfish are a prized catch.

The monsoon renews the soil’s fertility. Low areas that flood in summer grow winter rice and mustard. Tall pampas grass and shorter swamp grass are sold as thatch and animal fodder.

Passenger ferries crisscross from one crude landing to another, heavily laden with bicycles, goats, firewood and bundles of thatch. Adults wave as Sukapha sails by, and kids race along, shouting and trying to keep up. Others play cricket. On high banks, there are permanent settlements. One Muslim village has an ornate mosque and a boatyard where large wooden vessels are pulled up for storage or repairs.

The shallow, shifting channel is difficult to see in the murky water. Even with two professional pilots, Sukapha runs aground several times. We anchor each night in midchannel. One morning brings a pea-soup fog. It is unsafe for the tender to take us ashore.

When the fog lifts, wildlife is abundant. Our naturalist, Babajan, scans with binoculars, spotting and identifying birds and animals. Gangetic dolphins pop up frequently. Otters scurry across the sand bars. Herds of antelope roam the embankments. The birds include herons, ospreys, ducks, geese, cormorants and storks.

Following the cruise, we treat ourselves to three final nights in Delhi at the Imperial, one of the world’s great classic hotels. Built in a mix of colonial and art deco styles, its halls and rooms display fine paintings, sculptures, lithographs and photographs depicting British India of the early 20th century. There is a flag ceremony with pomp and colorful uniforms. Other traditions live on, such as elegant high tea in the bright inner atrium. The perfect way to end our visit to India in style.

If You Go

Sukapha cruises the Ganges and Hugli rivers from July through April. Her sister ship Charaidew cruises the Brahmaputra River in Assam from October through April. For details, visit wlcvacations.com.

U.S. citizens must have valid passports and obtain Indian visas.

A tropical medicine consultation is advisable, as are certain inoculations and malaria tablets. Stomach ailments are unlikely if only bottled water is drunk and if meals are taken only on the cruise ship, or at high end hotels and restaurants in major cities.

Travel, Pages 51 on 10/27/2013

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