Rummaged Souls

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“Rummaging in our souls, we often dig up something that ought to have lain there unnoticed.”
(From “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy)

Those men are ship carpenters working all day along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).

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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 Brilliant Technicolor

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“There are some parts of the world that, once visited, get into your heart and won’t go.
For me, India is such a place.
When I first visited, I was stunned by the richness of the land, by its lush beauty and exotic architecture, by its ability to overload the senses with the pure, concentrated intensity of its colors, smells, tastes, and sounds.
It was as if all my life I had been seeing the world in black and white and, when brought face-to-face with India, experienced everything re-rendered in brilliant technicolor.”
(Keith Bellows – Editor in Chief of National Geographic Traveler magazine and made a vice president of the National Geographic Society)

Colors are overpowering Varanasi (Benaras), after uploading a few pictures in black & white I always need to balance this with colorful images otherwise I would feel that I am disloyal to the city…
This lady came to wash her laundry in the Ganges, then she stretched those sarees along the ghat in order to dry them under the early sun of the dawn.

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An Auspicious Day

 

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“Engage yourself in all that is auspicious.”
(From the Sama Veda, the third of the four Vedas / sāman “melody” + veda “knowledge”)

One early morning those ladies came from far away to worship in the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
It was a Monday, Lord Shiva’s day and as Shiva is the God of the city it was an auspicious day for them.
After taking a deep in the river, they washed and stretched many clothes along the ghats.
By the amount of items drying under the sun, it was clear that those pilgrims had a long journey.

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Pursuit of Happiness Photography

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“I have never taken a picture for any other reason than that at that moment it made me happy to do so.”
(Jacques Henri Lartigue – French photographer and painter, 1894–1986)

One early morning those ladies came from far away to worship in the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
It was a Monday, Lord Shiva’s day and as Shiva is the God of the city it was an auspicious day for them.
After taking a deep in the river, they washed and stretched many clothes along the ghats.
By the amount of items drying under the sun, it was clear that those pilgrims had a long journey.

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A Choice

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“Colours have a beauty of their own which must be preserved, as one strives to preserve tonal quality in music. It is a question of organization and construction which is sensitive to maintaining this beautiful freshness of colour…
Colour is never a question of quantity, but of choice.”
(From Matisse’s essay “The Role and Modalities of Colour”, 1945)

At sunrise this lady was drying a few sarees after washing them in the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
She was a pilgrim coming from the other part of the country, she was probably staying in one of the ashrams nearby.
Watching her doing her laundry and spreading those bright colours which was a happy moment as it was bringing life to Panchganga Ghat.

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The Bank of Karma

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“The paths to liberation are numerous, but the bank along the way is always the same, the Bank of Karma, where the liberation account of each of us is credited or debited depending on our actions.”
(From “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel)

After taking a bath in the holy waters of the Ganges, this young man was drying under the winter rising sun.
It was in front of the little akhara which stands at Panda ghat in Varanasi (Benaras) where he came to exercise before sunrise.

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Omnia Vanitas (All is Vanity)

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“Vanity is so secure in the heart of man that everyone wants to be admired: even I who write this, and you who read this.”
(Blaise Pascal – French Mathematician, Philosopher and Physicist, 1623-1662)

This image was shot at Scindia Ghat along river Ganga in Varanasi (Benaras).
This young man was striking several poses in order to catch my attention so I could take a few snaps of him but I was pretending not to see him as I am mostly working on natural poses.
It was a Sunday afternoon before sunset and he came there to wash his laundry, his attitude was amazing, full of narcissism, each of his gesture was carrying vanity and pride…
After a while I couldn’t help laughing and I took a few pictures, in fact he knew that I was leaving the akhara nearby where I often take pictures of the pehlwani (wrestlers).

The pillar on the left belongs to the remains of a massive palace which used to stand on Scindhia ghat.
The entire structure has sunk several feet into the earth since its erection and is still gradually and slowly sinking.
Sometimes in the winter when the holy waters of the Ganges come very low it is possible to see it otherwise most of the time it stays underwater.

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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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