If you scan the hyperbole written about Varanasi, it’s enough to put you off Divine River toe-dipping for life. “Fecund”, “kaleidoscopic”, “foetid”, are regular descriptions and leave an image of a pot-bellied, grubby kind of bloke with a rainbow afro do, not unlike some of the characters that wander the banks of the said sacred river. Read the full article…

FT.com site, Sep 16, 2005