Prayer With Incense

 

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“Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”
(The Holy Bible – Psalms 141:2)

This picture was shot at Dasaswamedh ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) during the Ganga Aarti which is performed every evening by students from the Sanskrit University trained to become Hindu priests.

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The Way to Heaven

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“If only the bone of a person should touch the water of the Ganges, that person shall dwell, honored, in heaven.”
(A popular śloka from the Mahabharata)

This is Manikarnika Ghat during the night of Dev Diwali in Varanasi (Benaras).
This place has a great significance not only in Hindu mythology and way of life but also in the philosophies of life and death as this is the “Maha-Shmashan” or the Great Cremation Ground of the entire Universe.
Hindu mythology teaches that this ghat is especially sacred and that persons cremated there receive moksha and are granted instant salvation, it is an instant gateway to liberation from the cycle of births and rebirths.
There stands the sacred fire (dhuni) which might be the oldest fire, it is said that this place is the “navel of the world”.

Today Western Christians will observe All Saints’ Day and I thought that this picture could make a bridge between the two cultures.
Catholics celebrate All Saints’ Day in the fundamental belief that there is a prayerful spiritual communion between those in the state of grace who have died and are either being purified in purgatory or are in heaven and the “church militant” who are the living.
Tonight the tradition is to light candles while visit ing the graves of deceased relatives in cimeteries and the atmosphere will be very close to what I see along the sacred river at the same time of the year…

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Patience and Prayer

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“O you who believe! Seek assistance through patience and prayer; surely Allah is with the patient”.
(The Qu’ran – The Cow 2.153)

Today starts Ramzan (Ramadan) in India.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.
It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and sexual activities from dawn until sunset.
Fasting is intended to teach Muslims about patience, humility and spirituality and is a time for Muslims to fast for the sake of God (Allah) and to offer more prayer than usual.
During Ramadan, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds.
Ramadan was the month in which the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.

The name “Ramadan” had been the name of the ninth month in Arabian culture long before the arrival of Islam; the word itself derived from an Arabic root rmḍ, as in words like “ramiḍa” or “ar-ramaḍ” denoting intense heat, scorched ground and shortness of rations.
In the Qu’ran, God proclaims that “fasting has been written down (as obligatory) upon you, as it was upon those before you”.
According to the earliest hadith, this refers to the Jewish practice of fasting on Yom Kippur.

I take this opportunity to wish all my Muslim friends to live this holy month with great moments of piety, grace and sharing.
May Allah’s blessings be with you on Ramzan and always…

This picture was shot at the upper terrace nearby the Bivi Razaia Masjid, a small mosque located in the chawk of Varanasi (Benaras) and facing Kashi Vishwanath temple (also called the Golden Temple).

Remembrance & Confidence

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“There are stars who’s light only reaches the earth long after they have fallen appart.
There are people who’s remembrance gives light in this world, long after they have passed away.
This light shines in our darkest nights on the road we must follow.”
(The Talmud)

There is no editing on this picture shot at dawn near Assi ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
The holy waters melted in silver and gold offering a confident sanctuary to this diya (candle) which was carried away towards the rising sun.
In the oldest living city in the world people light up those floating candles for death anniversaries known as “shraadh”.
The religious environment made of many cultural influences allows people to become peaceful with death.
This serenity might be one of the greatest gift anyone could ever find in the Eternal city.
The more people remember stronger they become and they can carry on their way in peace and tranquillity…
(This week I am performing shraadh for my parents, this picture is in their memory)

“Hallelujah is Our Song”

“Do not abandon yourselves to despair.
We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”
(Pope John Paul II, 1920 – 2005)

This Bell, known in Sanskrit as Ghanti is in a Shiva temple facing the Ganges on the way to Gai Ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).
It is used in all poojas for invoking God, producing the auspicious sound “Om”, the universal name of the Lord.
“Agamaarthamtu devaanaam Gamanaarthamtu rakshasaam Kurve ghantaaravam tatra Devataahvaahna lakshanam, 
(I ring this bell indicating the invocation of divinity, So that virtuous and noble forces enter (my home and heart); And the demonic and evil forces from within and without, depart)”. 

In some Christian countries, the ringing of the church bells on every day of the week of Easter represents the announcement of the new life spring brings and also frightens off the spirits of darkness and evil.
Easter is the central religious feast in the Christian liturgical year.
According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion.

Happy easter to all of you.

Having New Eyes

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”
(Marcel Proust – French Novelist and Author, 1871-1922)

Phileas Fogg’s balloon was now reaching the top of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
Everyone was happy up there knowing that the real voyage was only starting, they didn’t know yet which amazing landscapes they would see nor who would join them onboard.
So far Phileas Fogg and Passepartout invited Jules Verne, Marcel Proust, Tulsidas and the great Kabir to join them among the ship of dreams and this was of great promise…

Pieces of Cloud in the Sunlight

 

“This is how I would die into the love I have for you:
As pieces of cloud dissolve in Sunlight.”
(Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi, known as Jelaluddin Rumi – Persian poet, jurist, theologian, and mystic, 1207–1273)

My friend Anand was rowing a boat on the Ganges, we left Varanasi (Benaras) and we were crossing the river on the way to Ramnagar.

The Wings of my Song

 

“There is nothing to stop me, 
from getting lost, 
anywhere at all, 
if only I make a wish in my mind. 
So I open the wings of my song, 
I go beyond the stony wilderness of fairy tales, 
I lose my way and reach some far away place, 
where silence reigns. 
I get to know the “Champa” flower in “Parul” grove 
all in my own mind. 
There is nothing to stop me, 
from getting lost, 
anywhere at all, 
when the wings of my songs are afloat. 
As the sun sets in the horizon, 
when masses of clouds look like flowers in the sky, 
I float away somewhere far off. 
And in my mind, 
I burst open the closed door, of a fairy tale home.“
(by Rabindranath Tagore)

This is another glimpse of Varanasi (Benaras), the Eternal city, shot at dusk from Scindia ghat along the holy waters of the Ganges.
A few years ago I was reading those words by Tagore, I kept the first sentence in my note book without obvious reason.
Today as time has passed swiftly, I know that there is nothing to stop me from getting lost in Benaras…

Eternity at Dusk

This is a glimpse of Eternity, shot at dusk from a platform which is located at Ahilyabai ghat along the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras), the Eternal city.

 

I thought that the music of Gustav Mahler, in particular the Adagietto from his Fifth Symphony, would frame this picture:

A Legacy of Peace and Hope

 

This is a picture of a minar from a little masjid (mosque) which is in the center of Varanasi (Benaras).
The lines made by the wires are providing a poetic music paper which would be waiting for writing music in the sky… 

Tonight the music will not play any sound, there are no notes to drop there, maybe the muezzin who will call later to prayer will remind us to honor the memory of a righteous man who left our little community.
We are all mourning his beautiful soul…
I never asked his name, over here it is rude to call elders by their name, he was Nishat’s father and this is how we always called him.

Nishat’s father was a Master embroiderer, a kind of magician who knew the finest secrets of the art of Zardozi embroidery, this ancient Persian art which has been passed down for many generations, dating back before the Mughal empire and which reached its zenith under the patronage of Emperor Akbar in the 17th century.

When I met him in his little workshop near the Ganges he was already blind, however he has been opening this art to me.
He was holding my hand, always happy and proud to show me the last masterpieces that his sons and grandsons were working at.
He has been teaching them his knowledge, probably like his own father did before.

He was a believer, sometimes he was praying Allah next to me.
Like everyone I was touched by his grace, by his kindness and by the way he was ajusting with all religions.
It happened that I was sitting next to him while he was in praise in front of an altar showing Jesus and Mary which was manufactured by his sons for the Pope in Rome, just nearby the ghats where an Hindu ceremony was going on.
There was a certain bliss, a lesson of peace and hope which is the legacy that he is leaving for us to share.

 

This is his portrait that I made two years ago.