About widows of Varanasi

IKRS show condition of a widow, which seems a tale of 18th century to most of us. But everything is not fictional. Google maharaj enlightened me on this aspect. Sharing some info with source here. No of widows living in Varanasi are approximately 38000. Its also called city of widows by some.

http://www.widows-varanasi.info/

The Widows' Home in India

Varanasi: The City of Light

Varanasi is one of India's holiest cities. Thousands of pilgrims come to this city to bathe and wash away their sins in the holy Ganges River. Hindus believe that if they die in this city then they will go straight to Nirvana (heaven), which is one of the reasons why so many widows stay here.

Another reason is that many of those who come to Varanasi on pilgrimage leave their widows behind, is so that the families don't have to take care of them any more.

For these reasons the city is crowded with widows living on the streets and having no one to care for them"an estimated 20,000 of them. Many survive by begging or by prostitution. Some have even lost their sanity by living in these desperate conditions. In James 1:27 it says that God wants us to take care of widows so that they will have a better life.

Our Vision:

In 1997 God spoke to us about the widows of Varanasi. He told us to build a home for them where some can live in dignity and others can come to earn a living.

Our vision is to help these widows by housing 50 of them who are in desperate circumstances, to help them and the children who often accompany them. We also want to equip 1500 younger widows with marketable skills, so that they can earn a decent income and experience the Hope that they never had.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/city-widows-38000-forgotten-women-varanasi-1505560
http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/neglected-by-authorities-widows-of-varanasi-are-lost-in-a-state-of-desolation-767099

Yeah so the show is not depicting fictional stuff on these traditions. Its reality and still practiced in Banaras. I know there are many Vidhwa Aashrams in North India. Though conditions in which they live are lot better than what shown in the show.

oh god..this is shocking and horrible..
widows turns into beggers neither as a prostitute .. 😲

Originally posted by: AkkiHP

Yeah so the show is not depicting fictional stuff on these traditions. Its reality and still practiced in Banaras. I know there are loads of Vidhwa Aashrams in North India. Though conditions in which they live are lot better than what shown in the show.

It depends on who's funding & running the aashrams. When I visited Vrindavan some years back, had visited one such aashram, condition was better then shown in these articles.
In many cases they were sent there by their family members only, so they don't have to give them share in inheritance.

Minaxi

Originally posted by: poo_j

Very shocking! 😲😲😲

It is shocking because we have never witnessed such behavior where we live.
Varanasi & Vrindavan are religious places. They like to keep old traditions to maintain uniqueness of the place. But it works in men's favour. I was wondering why there arent any widower's aashram.

Originally posted by: .scorpio10

Minaxi

I was watching a show on Epic ..where they gave one of the reasons, this tradition of leaving the windows at Varansi started

It is sd that sometimes, when the man's first wife passes away nd marries again to a younger one ...maybe to look after his kids and household ..(Its better he hires a maid than to marry and reduce one ) ...now due to age , he passes away too ...nd since the family do not want to share their inheritance with her or take responsibility of her ...such tradition came up ...for their conveniences ..

Priya, when I visited one such aashram in Vrindavan, our guide told us, most of them were sent here by their family members only so they dont have to give them their share in inheritance.
Such traditions came up only to suit interested party's convinience.
Being financially dependent on men of the house, a widow has to listen to what others say & follow rigid customs.

OHHH NOOO NOO NOO...

Tfs.