In a Golden Coating

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“Yellow, mellow, ripened days,
Sheltered in a golden coating;
O’er the dreamy, listless haze,
White and dainty cloudlets floating;
Winking at the blushing trees,
And the sombre, furrowed fallow;
Smiling at the airy ease,
Of the southward flying swallow
Sweet and smiling are thy ways,
Beauteous, golden Autumn days.”
(Will Carleton – American poet, 1845-1912)

There is a private temple dedicated to Lord Shiva near Manikarnika ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras), I often go there.
The angle that I get from the balcony allow me to take pictures of the people who are walking along the holy waters.
Season after season it became a kind of game, sometimes I feel I am watching a fashion show, some are walking with attitude, some have style…

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The Golden Fleece

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“Happy the man who, like Ulysses, has made a fine voyage, or has won the Golden Fleece, and then returns, experienced and knowledgeable, to spend the rest of his life among his family.”
(Joachim du Bellay – French poet, critic, and a member of the Pléiade, 1522–1560)

This is shot from the balcony of a Shiva mandir (temple) near Manikarnika ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) from where there is an amazing view over the city.
I often come there and enjoy taking pictures of the people walking under, sometimes they were timeless garments.

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Golden Wanderer

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“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils.”
(William Wordsworth – English Poet. 1770-1850)

I often spend some time on the balcony of a Shiva mandir (temple) near Manikarnika ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) from where there is an amazing view over the city.
There I see people walking along the holy waters.
This man came and kept my attention as I realized that we were almost wearing the same garments…

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Golden Alliance

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“We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet; and amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog has made an alliance with us.”
(Max Depree – American businessman and writer, b.1924)

On a cold afternoon of winter, this man was walking near Manikarnika ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).
I took this picture when he came under the balcony of a Shiva mandir (temple) where I often spend some time.
He was eating something wrapped in a newspaper and a dog was following him so he stopped and shared his food with this unexpected companion.

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Satya Yuga – The Golden Age

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“…there were no poor and no rich; there was no need to labour, because all that men required was obtained by the power of will; the chief virtue was the abandonment of all worldly desires.
The Krita Yuga was without disease; there was no lessening with the years; there was no hatred or vanity, or evil thought; no sorrow, no fear.
All mankind could attain to supreme blessedness…”
(The Satya Yuga as described in the Mahabharata)

The Satya Yuga, also called Sat Yuga, Krta Yuga and Krita Yuga in Hinduism, is the “Yuga (Age or Era) of Truth”, when mankind is governed by gods, and every manifestation or work is close to the purest ideal and mankind will allow intrinsic goodness to rule supreme.
It is sometimes referred to as the “Golden Age.”

Once again I went to the balcony of a Shiva mandir (temple) near Manikarnika ghat, in Varanasi (Benaras), from where I often take pictures.
I saw those men walking along the Ganges, they were echoing people from another holy city…

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Wrapped in an Orange Veil

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“The majority of (painters), because they aren’t colorists, do not see yellow, orange or sulphur in the South (of France) and they call a painter mad if he sees with eyes other than theirs”.
Vincent van Gogh (Dutch Painter,1853-1890)

This is a view of the “oldest living city in the world” shot from Scindia ghat before sunset.
The city was wrapped in an orange veil that the holy waters of the Ganges were reflecting.
It doesn’t matter if it was not really orange, it was the hour of the eagles, when they are flying low, looking for dinner and telling me to pursue my golden dreams…

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A Gateway to the Spiritual World

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It was at the end of the day, a life was ending there at Manikarnika ghat, the sacred gateway to the spiritual world, along the sacred Ganges, in a city of many names, known in ancient time as Kashi, the city of light, and refered in the Mahabharata as Varanasi (Banaras), “the oldest living city in the world”.

This is the place where people have to die in order to achieve liberation from samsara.
“Death, which elsewhere is feared, here is welcomed as a long-expected guest.”
“Death, which elsewhere is polluting, is here holy and auspicious.”
People travel from around the country and the planet to spend their last days in Banaras because, “Death, the most natural, unavoidable, and certain of human realities, is here the sure gate to moksha, the rarest, most precious, most difficult to achieve of spiritual goals”.

As I don’t want to be disrespectful, I wont show any closer picture of the funeral pyres, besides they are not allowed.
Those men who are mourning the dead one, will later walk away without looking back.

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The Golden Opportunity

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“The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself.
It is not in your environment; it is not in luck or chance, or the help of others; it is in yourself alone”.
(Quote by Orison Swett Marden (1850 – 1924), American writer)

I took this picture from the balcony of an amazing Shiva mandir (temple) which is located near Manikarnika ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
I like to come there before sunset, it is always peaceful and there is no one.
From the window I can see the city, I can see people walking, then I imagine that some are looking for inspiration and that others come to understand “the awesome complexity of the universe”…

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The Golden Beams

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“Ah, Hope! what would life be, stripped of thy encouraging smiles, that teach us to look behind the dark clouds of to-day, for the golden beams that are to gild the morrow.”
(Quote by Susanna Moodie(1803–1885), British born Canadian author)

Each word from this quote reflect in the Ganges, here in Varanasi (Benaras), the oldest living city in the world, where each face, each hand, each smile or gesture are golden ray of light.
I feel that all this grace is connected to the deepest part of humanity that we all carry from generation to generation and there is no doubt that there is something there teaching to look ahead as if the following days should be shining.

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The Golden Lectures

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“Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.” 
(George Washington Carver – American scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor, 1864–1943)

Sometimes I can enjoy the golden lectures spread along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras), the oldest living city in the world.
There is something timeless, something that seems to come from far away in time, a teaching that goes through generations, through frontiers and culture…
In this image the elder man was reading holy scriptures to this young boy, I didn’t speak to them and I don’t know who they are, neither what is the relationship between them as I didn’t want to disturb.
The man is wearing the thread which shows he is Brahman, he is also wearing Rudraksh beads and several attributes showing that he is deeply involved into religion.

He was performing a puja called asthi visarjan for the departed souls journey to heaven .

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