Ram Sena Volunteers Run Round-the-Clock Kanwar Service Camps in Varanasi

Along Varanasi’s Kanwar routes, the most useful landmarks are not always temples or traffic posts. Some are temporary tents with steel water containers, first-aid boxes and a row of mats where tired pilgrims can sit for a few minutes. Volunteers of the Ram Sena Sangathan have set up such service camps during Sawan, providing drinking water, refreshments, basic medical support and resting space to Kanwariyas moving through the city.

Members of the organisation say volunteers are working in shifts around the clock. That matters because pilgrimage traffic does not follow a neat office timetable. Groups arrive before sunrise, through the afternoon heat and late into the night. A camp that is staffed only for a photograph has limited value; a rota with replenished water, clean vessels and someone able to call an ambulance can make a genuine difference on a crowded route.

The work is simple in appearance and demanding in practice. Safe drinking water must be stored hygienically, food needs protection from heat and contamination, and rest areas cannot spill into moving traffic. First aid should remain within the competence of trained volunteers, with serious dehydration, injury or illness referred quickly to medical services. Organisers also need to manage waste generated by cups, plates and packaging so an act of service does not leave a sanitation problem behind.

Community camps add a human layer to the administration’s formal arrangements. Police manage movement, municipal teams handle cleaning and health services respond to emergencies; volunteers can notice the pilgrim who is limping, disoriented or simply needs directions. Their proximity to the crowd makes them valuable, provided the camps coordinate with authorities and do not obstruct emergency lanes. Clear contact numbers and a named supervisor for each shift would improve that coordination.

The initiative also captures a recognisable Banarasi instinct: public religious life is sustained as much by ordinary service as by spectacle. Offering water or a place to rest does not require a grand stage. It does require patience, supplies and the willingness to repeat the same task hundreds of times. In a season dominated by images of huge crowds, these camps show the quieter infrastructure that helps those crowds keep moving.

As Sawan continues, organisers should publish camp locations and the facilities genuinely available at each point. Pilgrims should use designated services, avoid leaving litter and alert volunteers to anyone in distress. The best measure of the camps will not be how busy they look on social media, but whether a tired traveller finds clean water, sensible help and a safer next step through Varanasi.