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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An Interior World

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Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
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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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Body language

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“The oldest living city in the world”.

This is a close-up of Pritviraj and Vinod, during their training at the gym, at sunrise near Scindia Ghat along river Ganga in Varanasi (Benaras).

Pehlwani (Devanagari: पहलवानी, Urdu: پہلوانی), Kushti (Devanagari: कुश्ती, Urdu: کشتی), or modern Indian wrestling, is a synthesis of an indigenous Aryan / Hindu form of wrestling that dates back at least to the 5th century BC and a Persian form of wrestling brought into South Asia by the Mughals.

A practitioner of this sport is referred to as a pehlwan (also spelled pahlwan in Persian, champion, literally a Parthian).

Generally speaking, a Hindu teacher of wrestling is known as a guru and a Muslim teacher as an ustad.

The Indian wrestling form has undergone several changes in both the nomenclature and training methodologies through the ages.
The more prominent influences include the introduction of Persian nomenclature and western training methods.

Wrestling competitions, known as Dangals, held at village levels, have their own rules which vary from place to place. Usually, a win is awarded by decision from the panel of judges, knockout, stoppage or submission.

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Sunrise’s reflection upon a cross

© 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.

“The oldest living city in the world”.

This is a portrait of Vinod who is a “pehlwan” (wrestler in Hindi) who exercises in a small gym club near Scindia Ghat along river Ganga in Varanasi (Benaras).
A few meters down there, Vinod has a little “shop” where he is selling pan, thea, water and sweets.

I shot this image while he was having an Ayurvedic Massage performed by his friend Pritviraj which is part of a pehlwan’s training.
It was early in the morning at sunrise and the sun is reflecting upon the cross he is wearing.
Vinod is Hindu however Christian crosses are actually becoming trendy accessories among the indian youth.

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