Within Your Own Heart

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“For the sake of it, you journey to sacred shrines and holy rivers; but this priceless jewel is within your own heart.”
(Sri Guru Granth Sahib – or Adi Granth, the religious text of Sikhism)

This is the heart of Lolark Kund, one of the oldest sacred sites of Varanasi (Benaras).
This rectangular tank of 15m height below the ground level is a sacred pond for many Hindu devotees who come here during Lolark Shasthi to worship the Sun God.
The word Lolark means “trembling Sun” and there is an image of Surya, the Sun God, in the water of the tank.
This tank is attached to the most important of 12 temples of Aditya (Sun God) in the city.
The entrance to the kund can be reached from either of the three flight of steps which descend down towards it.
Aditya is believed to prevent and cure leprosy or sterile women and to favor blessings on couples particularly those wanting to bring forth male progeny for various reasons including carrying on family name, economic bonanza,…
This is the reason why many devotees and childless couples come to have a daily dip in the waters of this sacred pond.

This picture was shot during the night of Dev Diwali while two priest started to display lotus flowers and marigold garlands on the holy water of the Kund (tank).

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Hope

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Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
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“When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God.”
(Charles Livingstone Allen – American Pastor,1913–2005)

This is Lolark Kund, one of the oldest sacred sites of Varanasi (Benaras)which is not far from Tulsi ghat along the Ganges.
This tank is attached to the most important of 12 temples of Aditya (Sun God) in the city.
Aditya is believed to prevent and cure leprosy or sterile women and to favor blessings on couples particularly those wanting to bring forth male progeny for various reasons including carrying on family name, economic bonanza,…
This is the reason why many devotees and childless couples come to have a daily dip in the waters of this sacred pond.
This picture was shot during the night of Dev Diwali.
A lingam (symbol of Shiva) was floating in the tank among lotus flowers and garlands made of marigold.
Everywhere candles were lit as a mark of welcome to God who is believed to descend on earth on that special day…

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Fascinating White Lotus

 

“O God, my mind is fascinated with Thy lotus feet as the bumble-bee with the flower; night and day I thirst for them.”
(Guru Nanak – 1469-1539)
Guru Nanak is the central figure in Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus.

Monsonn is the lotus season, they bloom in many pounds, the roots are in the mud, the stem grows up through the water, and the heavily scented flower lies pristinely above the water, basking in the sunlight. 
For Hindus and Buddhists the pattern of growth signifies the progress of the soul from the primeval mud of materialism, through the waters of experience, and into the bright sunshine of enlightenment.
According to the Lalitavistara, “the spirit of the best of men is spotless, like the lotus in the muddy water which does not adhere to it.”
According to another scholar, “in esoteric Buddhism, the heart of the beings is like an unopened lotus: when the virtues of the Buddha develop therein, the lotus blossoms; that is why the Buddha sits on a lotus bloom.”

The Second Buddha

 

This is a picture of the Padmasambhava statue shot in Hemis Monastery in the Himalayan hills of Ladakh.
The Lotus Born, is said to have transmitted Tantric Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet in the 8th century where he is better known as Guru Rinpoche (“Precious Master”) or Lopon Rinpoche and where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha. 

He said: “My father is the intrinsic awareness, Samantabhadra. 
My mother is the ultimate sphere of reality, Samantrabhadri. 
I belong to the caste of non-duality of the sphere and awareness. 
My name is the Glorious Lotus Born. 
I am from the unborn sphere of all phenomena. 
I consume concepts of duality as my diet. 
I act in the way of the Buddhas of the three times.”

He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as “a second Buddha”.

Namaste Monsieur Monet…!

© All rights reserved.

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.

This picture was shot in the beautiful and serene Lodhi Garden in Delhi last May before a storm.
The Lodhis were a pashtun Muslim dynasty which ruled much of Northern India during the 16th century.

The lotusses in this pond were reminding me the Water Lilies (or Nympheas) by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926).
This is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings which depict Monet’s flower garden at Giverny and were the main focus of the artist’s artistic production during the last thirty years of his life.
During the last years Monet suffered from cataracts.
In 1923, Monet had a lens removed from his right eye, correcting this but also allowing him to see ultraviolet light (which the lens usually blocks), and he began painting the water lilies in a more blue shade.

I found funny to work on this series of images as a kind of tribute to this artist and it is a new subject for me which allows me to play with colors.
Besides I enjoy making links into that Indo-Western topic that I usualy show in my photostream even if here it’s only coming from my imagination.

Although the title is an allusion to another impressionist painting “Bonjour Monsieur Courbet”.

“There’s a moon in my body”

 

” There’s a moon in my body…
There’s a moon in my body, but I can’t see it!
A moon and a sun.
A drum never touched by hands, beating, and I can’t hear it! “

This is a poem from Kabīr (Hindi: कबीर, Punjabi(Gurmukhi): ਕਬੀਰ, Urdu: /Punjabi (Shahmukhi)کبير‎) (1398—1448) who was a mystic poet from Varanasi (Benaras), the social and practical manifestation of his philosophy represented a synthesis of Hindu, and Muslim concepts. 
According to Kabir, all life is an interplay of two spiritual principles, one is the personal soul (Jivatma) and the other is God (Paramatma) and salvation is the process of bringing into union these two divine principles.

Kabir is a very important figure in Indian history. 
He is unusual in that he is spiritually significant to Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims alike. 
Kabir touches the soul, the conscience, the sense of awareness and the vitality of existence in a manner that is unequalled in both simplicity and style. 
Another beauty of Kabir’s poetry is that he picks up situations that surround our daily lives. 
Thus, even today, Kabir’s poetry is relevant and helpful in both social and spiritual context. 
Following Kabir means understanding one’s inner self, realizing oneself, accepting oneself as is, and becoming harmonious with one’s surroundings.

Kabir has written much poetry and song, all verses are recorded in Hindi. 
His lyrics are characterised by a free use of the vernacular, and is unfettered by the grammatical bonds of his day and it is this quality which has made his philosophy accessible to generations of Indians.

Monsoon season is the lotus season and last June I saw this lotus pond on a road from Khajuraho to the jungle which inspired Rudyard Kipling’s “Jungle book” in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Lotus always remind me French Impressionist Claude Monet’s Water Lilies (or Nympheas).

Indian Nympheas

One more picture of lotus that I have been working as a kind of tribute to the Nympheas by Claude Monet.

Water Lilies (or Nympheas) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926). 
The paintings depict Monet’s flower garden at Giverny and were the main focus of Monet’s artistic production during the last thirty years of his life.

I took this picture at the ISKCON Temple of Delhi which is located at Raja Dhirshain Marg, Sant Nagar, near the East of Kailash locality. 
It is one of the 40 temples in India that belongs to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, dedicated to Lord Krishna. 
A part of the Hare Krishna Movement started by Acharya Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the devotees and followers of the Hare Rama Hare Krishna cult built this temple in 1998 to disseminate the message of the Bhagwad Gita.

Remembrance of Giverny

 

I was walking at the Lodhi Gardens in Delhi and I took this picture a few minutes before the big storm which has been refreshing the city all night long.

Lodhi Gardens is a park in Delhi, India. 
It contains architectural works of the Lodhis, a pashtun Muslim dynasty which ruled much of Northern India during the 16th century. 
The gardens are situated between Khan Market and Safdarjung’s Tomb on Lodhi Road.
Over there there is a pond with lotus which reminded me the Nympheas by Claude Monet.
Water Lilies (or Nympheas) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926). 
The paintings depict Monet’s flower garden at Giverny and were the main focus of Monet’s artistic production during the last thirty years of his life.

Le bassin aux nymphéas

 

This is a new image which comes in the series of pictures that I have been working like the Water Lilies (or Nympheas) by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926). 

This game is coming from my imagination only where the impressionist painter could have been painting his series (about 250) of oil paintings not in Giverny but in India as I shot this in the beautiful and serene Lodhi Garden in Delhi.

It was before a storm at dusk so I also borrowed the title to Monet, “Le bassin aux nympheasr” (Water Lily Pond).

The Lodhis were a pashtun Muslim dynasty which ruled much of Northern India during the 16th century.

“Inexpressible is the story of Love”

 

This is a poem from Kabīr (Hindi: कबीर, Punjabi(Gurmukhi): ਕਬੀਰ, Urdu: /Punjabi (Shahmukhi)کبير‎) (1398—1448) who was a mystic poet from Varanasi (Benaras) whose literature has greatly influenced the Bhakti as well as Sufi movements of India.

“Akath Kahani Prem Ki, Kutch Kahi Na Jaye
Goonge Keri Sarkara, Baithe Muskae”

“Inexpressible is the story of Love
It cannot be revealed by words
Like the dumb eating sweet-meat
Only smiles, the sweetness he cannot tell”

The hall mark of Kabir’s poetry is that he conveys in his two line poems (Doha), what others may not be able to do in many pages.

The rainy season is the time for lotus flowers and a few days ago I saw this lotus pond on the road from Khajuraho to the jungle which inspired Rudyard Kipling’s “Jungle book” in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
It was fun to work this image in the spirit of the French Impressionist Claude Monet’s Water Lilies (or Nympheas).