The Year of the Water Snake

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“Appreciate and rejoice, without any expectation.
It doesn’t matter if people are unkind to you, it doesn’t matter if people betray you, it doesn’t matter if people don’t even say ‘thank you’ to you; by appreciating everything around you, from happy experiences to sad, your life will become meaningful, full of understanding, joy, strength and fearlessness.”
(Jigme Pema Wangchen, The Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa, B.1963)

This is a view from Stok palace, the current residence of the royal family of Ladakh with an amazing Hiamalyan landscape which is a poetry of nature following the Indus river through stony hills.
This picture is an opportunity to wish everyone and especially my Tibetan and Ladakhi friends Tashi Delek, Happy Losar & Happy New Year on the occasion of the upcoming Female Water Snake Year 2140…

(Tashi means auspicious and Delek means fine or well and it could be translated by “Blessings and good luck” or “May all auspicious signs come to this environment”.
The phrase is also used in Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim.
Losar is the Tibetan word for “new year” which is the most important holiday in Tibet and Bhutan, it is a three-day festival that mixes sacred and secular practices (prayers, ceremonies, hanging prayer flags, sacred and folk dancing, partying).
It occurs near or on the same day as the Chinese New Year and the Mongolian New Year, but the traditions of Losar are unique to Tibet andpredates Buddhism or Indian and Chinese influences).

This year the Tibetan government in Exile has appealed to Tibetans to pray instead of party at Losar, in solidarity with Tibetans who have self-immolated. http://bit.ly/YPiCEE

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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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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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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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HAPPY DIWALI AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

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

“May you all attain full inner illumination!
May the supreme light of lights enlighten your understanding!
May you all attain the inexhaustible spiritual wealth of the Self!
May you all prosper gloriously on the material as well as spiritual planes!”
(from the writings of Swami Sivananda Saraswati – Hindu spiritual teacher, 1887–1963)

This is also the opportunity to thank you all for commenting my pictures the way you do and for this amazing support which always gives me the energy to carry on my work…
A new year is starting in India and I want to share with you more emotions with the colours of life which keep on coming in front of my lens…

(This picture was shot in Varanasi (Benaras) during Dev Diwali as Anand was taking all of us on his boat for a ride along the Ganges).

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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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Surfaces, Lines and Values

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“This recognition, in real life, of a rhythm of surfaces, lines, and values is for me the essence of photography; composition should be a constant of preoccupation, being a simultaneous coalition – an organic coordination of visual elements. “
(Henri Cartier-Bresson – French photographe, 1908–2004)

This is the entrance of the Bara Imambara (also called the Asafi Imambara) complex in Lucknow, the mythical city of Nawabs.
It was shot from a window in the corridor which is on the level of the ceiling of the domed chamber leading to the Bhulbhulaiya, a three-dimensional labyrinth with passages interconnecting with each other through 489 identical doorways…

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The Head, the Eye and the Heart

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“To photograph: it is to put on the same line of sight the head, the eye and the heart.”
(Henri Cartier-Bresson – French photographe, 1908–2004)

This picture was shot in All Saints Cathedral of Allahabad in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
It was at the end of the Sunday Mass, this family came close to the marble altar in order to get Absolution from the priest.

The building is considered as one of the finest Anglican Cathedral in Asia, it was built in 13th century Gothic style, and was consecrated in 1887.

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