Sacred Moments

“A ritual becomes the match that lights the kindred celebration candle of sacred moments long ago… tantalizing these entombed spirits to surface again.”
(Wes Adamson)

This was shot from a boat on the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) during the celebrations of Dev Diwali on the occasion of Kartik Poornima.
The festival of Lights is a mark of welcome to the Gods as it is believed that they descend on earth on that special day.
In the evening under the full moon reflecting in the holy waters each ghat is performing Ganga Aarti with vedic hymns chanted by priests in order to please and welcome the Gods.

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A Second’s Encounter With Eternity

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.
And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.”
(From “Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho)

This was shot from a boat on the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) during the celebrations of Dev Diwali on the occasion of Kartik Poornima.
The festival of Lights is a mark of welcome to the Gods as it is believed that they descend on earth on that special day.
In the evening under the full moon reflecting in the holy waters each ghat is performing Ganga Aarti with vedic hymns chanted by priests in order to please and welcome the Gods.

Join the photographer at www.facebook.com/laurent.goldstein.photography

© 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.

Vanity, Pride and Arrogance

“The truest characters of ignorance are vanity, and pride and arrogance.”
(Samuel Butler – English novelist, 1835-1902)

This is a close up of a gate of the Kashi Ram Green Eco Garden in Lucknow, the capital of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
This park reveals the misuse of public money.
It was built on 120-acre of land by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Kumari who also erected huge statues of herself in a style reminding totalitarian regimes in order to show respect towards Dalit icons as she considers herself as one.
She also settled a plan for a special police force to protect this expensive huge space as she feared that her political opponents might demolish her work.
People would have preferred houses, schools and hospitals instead of watching from an highway this monumental work which exults the vanity, pride and arrogance of someone who doesn’t care for them.

______________________
Mayawati became the first Dalit-woman chief minister of any Indian state and therefore a symbol for millions of Dalits (or “untouchables”) who were oppressed by the Hindu upper castes for centuries.
However she is involved in many scandals and there are allegations that she has used her status to amass a large amount of personal wealth.
Her assets run into millions of dollars with several properties to her name.
The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) had filed a case against her for owning assets disproportionate to her known sources of income however she described the CBI investigation against her as illegal.
While the source of the funds was given as voluntary donations, CBI found at least 50 sweepers, hawkers, and rickshaw-pullers who had been asked to open bank accounts and sign blank cheques from which these funds eventually originated.
Her mega birthday bashes are major media events where she appears laden with diamonds.
______________________

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Blessings for Every One

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“You are invited to the festival of this world and your life is blessed”
(Rabindranath Tagore – Indian Poet and writer, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, 1861-1941)

This was shot before sunset at the tomb of Mohammad Ghaus in Gwalior in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh as I was walking in the galleries surrounding the Sufi saint mazaar (tomb).
The building, built in the late 16th century in the typical Mughal style, is enclosed on all sides by delicately carved lattices over which rises a large dome.
This place is a pilgrimage centre for both the Hindus and the Muslims and this is why I selected this picture in order to celebrate the happy coincidence which makes today Eid-ul-fitr, Ganesh Chaturthi and Rosh Hashanah happen in the same time.
This place of devotion is a symbol of brotherhood to my eyes, this is where anyone can express his faith.

– Eid Mubarak, I wish you all a very happy and peaceful Eid. May Allah accept your good deeds, forgive your transgressions and ease the suffering of all peoples around the globe.
– Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah! I wish good luck and good fortune to every one on Ganesh Chaturthi.
– Shana Tova, wishing you all a New Year blessed with new biginnings, new hopes and joys…

The Passion Mysteries

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“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that those who believe in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.” John 3:14
“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself.” John 12:32

This is a close-up of Ligier Richier’s “Lamentation of Christ” which is in Church of St. Étienne located in Saint-Mihiel, in northeastern France.
Ligier Richier (c. 1500 – 1567) was a sixteenth-century French sculptor who might have been inspired by the Mystery plays which are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe.
Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song.
They developed from the 10th to the 16th century, reaching the height of their popularity in the 15th century before being rendered obsolete by the rise of professional theatre.

Patience and Prayer

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“Seek assistance through patience and prayer, and most surely it is a hard thing except for the humble ones”.
(Quran – The Cow 2.45)

This was shot last Friday at the tomb of Mohammad Ghaus in Gwalior in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
A few people came to offer namaaz (prayer) in front of the Sufi saint mazaar (tomb).
It was quiet and peaceful, I was alone walking in the galleries inside this Mughal style building of the 16th century and I saw that bowl where was reflecting a carved lattice.
From the central dome a man was singing verses from the Quran, I stayed there till the begining of sunset enjoying this timeless moment.

Some Secrets of Life

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“Of all our games, love’s play is the only one which threatens to unsettle our soul, and is also the only one in which the player has to abandon himself to the body’s ecstasy.
…Nailed to the beloved body like a slave to a cross, I have learned some secrets of life which are now dimmed in my memory by the operation of that same law which ordained that the convalescent, once cured, ceases to understand the mysterious truths laid bare by illness, and that the prisoner, set free, forgets his torture, or the conqueror, his triumph passed, forgets his glory.”
(Quotes from “Memoirs of Hadrian” by French writer Marguerite Yourcenar)

Antinoüs (111–130) was a member of the entourage of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, to whom he was beloved.
Antinous was deified after his death.
This marble statue stands at Le Louvre museum it allowed me to try a Canon EOs 500D.

 

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Having New Eyes

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”
(Marcel Proust – French Novelist and Author, 1871-1922)

Phileas Fogg’s balloon was now reaching the top of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
Everyone was happy up there knowing that the real voyage was only starting, they didn’t know yet which amazing landscapes they would see nor who would join them onboard.
So far Phileas Fogg and Passepartout invited Jules Verne, Marcel Proust, Tulsidas and the great Kabir to join them among the ship of dreams and this was of great promise…

Infinity Made Imaginable

“The principle of the Gothic architecture is infinity made imaginable.”
(Samuel Taylor Coleridge – English lyrical Poet, Critic and Philosopher, 1772-1834)

This is a picture of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University which is an institution of higher learning in Sanskrit and other languages located in Varanasi (Benaras).
It is a quiet place nearby the house where I am living and I like to come there in order to daydream among this amazing Gothic style architecture which is quite unexepected in this city.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

“But ’tis the devil who rings the Angelus!”
“(“The Hunchback of Notre Dame” by Victor Hugo)

For a change I felt like showing a view of Paris from Notre Dame which is matching the new series of pictures on which I am working.”