Shivala Ghat

It was water buffalo bath-time on Shivala Ghat today. I’ve often wondered why the buffalos in Varanasi are so shiny and clean looking. All the other animals are covered in… well, substances too horrible to put names to. Idle imaginings conjured images of buffalo preening sessions, rather like the monkey knit-picking sessions I’ve often see, but I never came across any hard evidence to support my fantasies. I knew some kind of intervention must take place because even the horns of a the buffalo shine. Now I know why. They are bathed in the waters of the mother Ganga, then their horns are oiled. One of the less terrible Indian animal incarnations, don’t you think?