A Song, A Dream, A Whisper

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“You are the answer to every prayer I’ve offered.
You are a song, a dream, a whisper, and I don’t know how I could have lived without you for as long as I have.”
(From “The Notebook” by Nicholas Sparks)

Early in the morning this lady lit up a diya (candle) at Dasaswamedh ghat and let the holy waters of the Ganges carry away her prayer as if it was a song, a dream, a whisper…

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The Road Toward Freedom

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“I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos-especially activity that seems to have no meaning.
It seems to me to be the road toward freedom…
Rather than starting inside, I start outside and reach the mental through the physical.”
(Jim Morrison – American singer & poet, 1943-1971)

This man was bathing before sunset in the holy waters of the Ganges at Shivala ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).
He smiled and laughed at my joke regarding his untied langot…

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Light Of Lights

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“The sun does not shine there, nor do the moon and the stars, nor do lightnings shine and much less fire.
All the lights of the world cannot be compared even to a ray of the inner light of the Self.
Merge yourself in this light of lights and enjoy the supreme Deepavali.”
(from the writings of Swami Sivananda Saraswati – Hindu spiritual teacher, 1887–1963)

I WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY DIWALI AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR WITH LOVE, PEACE AND PROSPERITY…

This is a picture of Jain ghat in Varanasi (Benaras) shot during Dev Diwali.

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An Interior World

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“If the photographer succeeds in reflecting the exterior as well as interior world, his subject appear as “in real life.
In order to achieve this, the photographer must respect the mood, become integrated into the environment, avoid all the tricks that destroy human truth, and also make the subject of the photo forget the camera and the person using it.
Complicated equipment and lights get in the way of naïve, unposed subjects.
What is more fleeting than the expression on a face?”
(Henri Cartier-Bresson – French photographe, 1908–2004 /on subject, “American Photo”, September/October 1997)

This is one room of the Lakshmi Narayana temple on the top of a hill in Orchha, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
This place is dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi and was built by King Veer Singh of the Bundela dynasty in 1622.

In the temple’s inner sanctum, Vir Singh built a peeth, or seat, for offering sacrifices to the Hindu Goddess of Wealth which are made in a manner similar to those of the Tantrik cult.
Tantra can best be described as a yoga of action, not abstract contemplation.
Instead of denying themselves worldly pleasures, tantriks strive to gain the maximum pleasure from them.
The realisation of their enjoyment reaches such a crescendo that the energy released can carry consciousness to the peak of enlightenment.
Elaborate rituals and body magic, especially sexual intercourse, mark the cult.

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Happy Ganesh Chatrurthi

 

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“On the Ganesh Chaturthi day, meditate on the stories connected with Lord Ganesha early in the morning, during the Brahmamuhurta period.
Then, after taking a bath, go to the temple and do the prayers of Lord Ganesha.
Offer Him some coconut and sweet pudding.
Pray with faith and devotion that He may remove all the obstacles that you experience on the spiritual path.
Worship Him at home, too.
You can get the assistance of a pundit.
Have an image of Lord Ganesha in your
house.
Feel His Presence in it.

Don’t forget not to look at the moon on that day; remember that it behaved unbecomingly towards the Lord.
This really means avoid the company of all those who have no faith in God, and who deride God, your Guru and religion, from this very day.

Take fresh spiritual resolves and pray to Lord Ganesha for inner spiritual strength to attain success in all your undertakings.

May the blessings of Sri Ganesha be upon you all!
May He remove all the obstacles that stand in your spiritual path!
May He bestow on you all material prosperity as well as liberation!”
(Swami Sivananda – Hindu spiritual teacher, 1887 – 1963)

Ganesha Chaturthi is the Hindu festival celebrated on the occasion of birthday of Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, who is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees in the duration of this festival.
It is the day Shiva declared his son Ganesha as superior to all the gods, barring Vishnu, Lakshmi, Shiva and Parvati.
Ganesha is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune and traditionally invoked at the beginning of any new venture or at the start of travel.

This picture of Lord Ganesha was shot in a temple of Khajuraho located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

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Shushila, the Hijra

 

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This is a portrait of Shushila which I took a few days ago inside her guru’s house in a little city located nearby Varanasi (Benaras) in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Shushila is 35 years old, she was born in an Hindu family of the same town, she studied at school untill the age of 16 and she joined an hijra community when she was 17.
She didn’t become hijra (Hindi: हिजड़ा, Urdu: حجڑا), nor she was forced to be so, she was born like that as an hermaphrodite and therefore she is considered as a member of “the third gender”, neither man nor woman.
Like most of the hijras, she refers to herself linguistically as female, and wears women garments.

Becoming an hijra is a process of socialization into a “hijra family” through a relationship characterised as chela “student” to guru “teacher”, leading to a gradual assumption of femininity.
Typically each guru lives with at least five chelas; her chelas assume her surname and are considered part of her lineage.
Shushila’s guru is Sunita, a Muslim hijra, who has been teaching her to perform religious ceremonies at weddings and at the birth of babies, involving music, singing, and dancing.
Hijras are intended to bring good luck and fertility and they are most often uninvited to Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Jain family’s and even to Christian’s for Christmas.
Hijras are said to be able to do this because, since they do not engage in sexual activities, they accumulate their sexual energy which they can use to either bestow a boon or a bane.
It is said that hijras’ curse brings bad luck or infertility.

One day Shushila will become the guru of her community after Sunita’s death.
Sunita decided that it ill be like that and Shushila will follow exactly what her guru said, she will carry the same teaching with younger hijras.
It is nice to see that in this community Muslims and Hindus are living together and respecting their beliefs, their religion.

As I was asking, she told me that she was happy with her life, she said that in her society she wouldn’t have been able to do anything else so she was enjoying her life as an hijra.

I took many pictures of her, I said that I wanted natural poses, I was trying to show her soul like I did with her guru’s portraits.
With Sunita we tried to make her laugh as she wasn’t used at all to be in front of a camera and finaly I like this one which is far away to what I wanted.
After showing her she said she was happy of the result.

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Holy Cow

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“I knew the profanity used up and down my street would not go over the air…
So I trained myself to say ‘Holy Cow’ instead.”
(Harry Caray – American baseball broadcaster, 1914-1998)

This picture was shot along the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
Nandi, the gate keeper of Shiva, is facing the main shrine of a temple where a cow was also standing…

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Shraaddha

“Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.”
(Epicurus – Greek philosopher, BC 341-270)

This picture was shot at Ahilyabai Ghat in Varanasi (Benaras) where an old man invited a Brahman to perform Shraaddha along the holy waters of the Ganges.
Shraaddha (Death Anniversary) is a Sanskrit word which literally means anything or any act that is performed with all sincerity and faith.
In the Hindu religion, it is the ritual that one performs to pay homage to one’s ancestors, especially to one’s dead parents.

“Rites with offerings known as shaddha are periodically held after a person has died to nourish the soul in the afterlife.
The rites are often performed once a year and feature a feast with a plate of food of food offered to the dead.
Hindu believe the living must feed the dead living in the World of the Fathers.
If the ancestors are properly taken care of they will reward the living with prosperity and sons.
The shaddha is thought to day back to the Aryans.
It is viewed as a meeting between the living and the dead.
The souls of the dead who are nor properly buried are thought live outside the World of Fathers as ghosts that torment their relatives until they are there. custom”
(“World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder, Facts on File Publications, New York)

Conceptually, it is a way for people to express heartfelt gratitude and thanks towards their parents and ancestors, for having helped them to be what they are and praying for their peace.
It also can be thought of as a “day of remembrance”.
It is performed for both the father and mother separately, on the days they became deceased.
It performed on the death anniversary or collectively during the Pitru Paksha or Shraaddha paksha (Fortnight of ancestors), right before Sharad Navaratri in autumn.
View On Black

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The Holy Cow

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“Worship to thee, springing to life, and worship to thee when born!
Worship, O Cow, to thy tail-hair, and to thy hooves, and to thy form!
The man who knows the Seven Floods, who knows the seven distances,

Who knows the head of sacrifice, he may receive the holy Cow.”
(From Hymn X:10 of the Atharva Veda)

Those men came at sunrise along the Ganges in order to worship Nandi at Gay ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).
In Hindi “gay” means “cow”.
Nandi is the bull associated with Shiva and is said to be His vehicle, it symbolizes both power and ignorance.
Lord Shiva’s use of the bull as a vehicle conveys the idea that He removes ignorance and bestows power of wisdom on His devotees.
The bull is called Vrisha in Sanskrit which means dharma (righteousness), thus Nandi shown next to Shiva also indicates that He is the etemal companion of righteousness.

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LE POINT Références LES TEXTES FONDAMENTAUX SAGESSES DE L’INDE

LE POINT
Références
LES TEXTES FONDAMENTAUX
SAGESSES DE L’INDE

MARS – AVRIL 2012
N° 38

Three pictures published page 6, 9 & 37

 

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All photographs are copyrighted and all rights reserved.
Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.