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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Subject and Form

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“You are asking me what makes a good picture.
For me, it is the harmony between subject and form that leads each one of those elements to its maximum of expression and vigor.”
(Henri Cartier-Bresson – French photographer, 1908–2004)

In 1948 Henri Cartier-Bresson took several pictures of the old observatory in the city palace of Jaipur where shades of grey and captivating combinations of geometric forms blend in an amazing rhythm.
This picture is a tip of the hat to the Master, it was shot at sunrise at the Jantar Mantar overlooking Dashashwamedh Ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
This observatory was built by Jai Singh, the Maharaja of Jaipur in the year 1737 who was a great admirer of science and technology.
This place was built to measure the local time, the Sun’s declination, altitude, the declination of stars, planets and to determine eclipses, it has several masonry instruments to record the motion, speed and properties starts and planets and study astronomy that are accurate and can still be used efficiently today.
This Jantar Mantar in Varanasi was built in line with Delhi, Mathura, Ujjain and Jaipur observatories.

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A Minute Part Of Reality

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“The photograph itself doesn’t interest me.
I want only to capture a minute part of reality.”
(Henri Cartier-Bresson – French photographer, 1908–2004)

This is a view of Mansrowar Ghat in Varanasi (Benaras) shot from “The Lotus Lounge” where I enjoy to have breakfast after sunrise whenever I come along the Ganges early in the morning…

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In Your Light

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“In your light I learn how to love.
In your beauty, how to make poems.
You dance inside my chest
Where no one sees you,
but sometimes I do,
and that sight becomes this art.”
(Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi – Poet and Sufi mystic, 1207-1273)

This red sari was drying under the sun along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).

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In God’s Hands

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“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess”
(Martin Luther – German Priest and Scholar whose questioning led to the Protestant Reformation, 1483-1546)

Three ladies were performing a puja at Gay ghat at the feet of the big statue of Nandi which stands in front of several Shiva ligams.
We were alone and they smiled at me, the day was rising up among a heavy mist.
I didn’t want to disturb that moment but they insisted that I took some pictures, they seemed to be happy.

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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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“O my Lord! Grant me a righteous (son)!” So We gave him the good news of a boy, possessing forbearance. And when (his son) was old enough to walk and work with him, (Abraham) said: O my dear son, I see in vision that I offer you in sacrifice: Now see what is your view!”
(The son) said: “O my father! Do what you are commanded; if Allah wills, you will find me one practising patience and steadfastness!”
So when they both submitted and he threw him down upon his forehead, We called out to him saying: O Ibrahim! You have indeed fulfilled the vision; surely thus do We reward those who do good. Most surely this was a manifest trial. And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice. And We perpetuated (praise) to him among the later generations. “Peace and salutation to Abraham!” Thus indeed do We reward those who do right. Surely he was one of Our believing servants. And We gave him the good news of Ishaq, a prophet from among the righteous.”
(Quran 37:100–111)

Eid al-Adha is a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to honour the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his young first-born son Ismail (Ishmael) as an act of submission to God’s command and his son’s acceptance to being sacrificed, before God intervened to provide Abraham with a ram to sacrifice instead.
In North India this festival is also called “Bakrid”, from the Urdu-Hindi word bakri (goat) because of the tradition of sacrificing a goat.
(This picture of a tazia was shot in Varanasi (Benaras) during Muharram).

May Allah’s love brighten up the home and heart of all you know on this auspicious day.
I wish everyone a blessed Eid and a Happy Eid Mubarak.

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A Lightning Instant

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“The creative act lasts but a brief moment, a lightning instant of give-and-take, just long enough for you to level the camera and to trap the fleeting prey in your little box.”
(Henri Cartier-Bresson – French photographe, 1908–2004)

Lucknow, the mythical city of Nawabs, allows to travel in time.
I always enjoy to spend time in the Bara Imambara (or Asafi Imambara) complex for a sensory memory journey…

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Life Welling Worth

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“I could give you no advice but this: to go into yourself and to explore the depths where your life wells forth.”
(From “Letters to a Young Poet (1934)” by Rainer Maria Rilke – Austro-German lyric poet, 1875-1926)

 

This is the Sheesh Gumbad shot from the Bara Gumbad in the Lodi Gardens in Delhi.
During summers walking in this huge park among the mosque and all the tombs of this Pashtun dynasty which ruled Northern India during the 16th century is always a moment of bliss, mostly when come the monsoon showers…
Then clouds of birds try to defeat the sudden winds in the red sky of fire and from every corner, life is welling forth…

 

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Working with Atmosphere

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“Technique undoubtedly helps make photography magical, but I prefer to work with atmosphere.
I think that the obsession with technique is a male thing.
Boy’s toys.
They love playing… but once you’ve perfected something you have to start searching for a new toy.
I would rather search for a new model or location.”
(Ellen von Unwerth – German photographer and director, b.1954)

This is a view of a side of Man Singh Palace, one of the most beautiful structures in the Gwalior Fort.
The fortress stands on an isolated rock, overlooking the Gwalior town, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Within its rich history Gwalior Fort occupies a unique place in the human civilization as the place which has the first ever recorded use of zero.

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