These cities magnify and confuse the possibility of understanding Hinduism. The enormous pantheon of gods is more than just bewildering. However, those natives we’ve talked to, mostly guides and a book or two on this topic, are unfazed by the plethora of gods, magical tales, etc. I found most surprising the claims that Hinduism is in reality a monotheistic religion, and accusations of paganism are totally unfounded. The multiplicity of gods is comparable to the multiplicity of Christian saints – they are not gods themselves, but various reincarnations and avatars of the one god who can be reached only through the sons/daughters of the supreme being. Muslims reach god through Mohammed, Buddhists through the reincarnations of the Buddha. Jews have prophets, but we don’t pray to them (or do we?).
But when one sees/hears about people seeking to make Varanasi the place of their death so that they can break the never-ending cycle of reincarnation, and others who debase themselves and crawl toward images of Vishnu or Shiva -- it all seems so primitive – but then, I feel the same about other religions. I guess we atheists rationalize any fondness we may have for the beliefs of our parents as valuable to the survival of community and perpetuation of ethics rather than punishment and salvation.
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