The Power Of Celebration

“People of our time are losing the power of celebration.
Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained.
Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation.
To be entertained is a passive state–it is to receive pleasure afforded by an amusing act or a spectacle….
Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one’s actions.”
(From “The Wisdom of Heschel” by Abraham Joshua Heschel)

This was shot from 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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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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Receiving From Life

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“The world is a mirror.
We receive from life not what we want but who we are.
There are reasons to our lives and painful times never last.
Trust that the winter of your sorrow will yield to the summer of your joy, just as the brilliant rays of the morning always follow the darkest part of the night”.
(from “Daily Inspiration” by Robin Sharma)

This morning at sunrise a priest was performing Ganga Aarti at Dasaswarmeth ghat along the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).

The Beginning

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“Getting up early is a gift you give to yourself.
Few discipline have the power to transform your life as does the habit of early rising.
There is something very special about the first few hours of the morning.
Time seems to slow down and a deep sense of peace fills the air.
Joining the Five o’Clock Club will allow you to start controlling your day rather than letting your day control you.
Winning the “Battle of the Bed” and putting “mind over mattress” by rising early will provide you with at least one quiet hour for yourself during the most crucial part of your day: the beginning.
If spent wisely, the rest of your day will unfold in a wonderful way”.
(From “Daily Inspiration” by Robin Sharma)

At Dasaswarneth ghat a priest is performing Ganga Aarti every morning along the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
Since many years I was trying to take those pictures but always failed to come in time at this ghat, this season I managed to join the Five o’Clock Club…;)

Freedom

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“The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him – that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free”.
(Swami Vivekanada – Indian spiritual leader, 1863-1902)

This is one more picture shot at dawn at Dasaswarneth ghat where a priest is performing Ganga Aarti every day along the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).

Spiritual Fire

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“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.”
(Buddha – Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, 563-483 B.C.)

This is a seven headed snake lamp used for Ganga Aarti rituals, it is a symbol of Lord Shiva and signifies that the Lord’s perpetual laws of reason and justice preserve natural order in the universe.
The snake is believed to be the Vasuki Naga, a deadly cobra which shows that Shiva is independent of time and death.
It was shot at sunrise at Dasaswarneth ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).

To the Divine

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“There is a desire deep within the soul which drives man from the seen to the unseen, to philosophy and to the divine.”
(Kahlil Gibran – Lebanese born American philosophical Essayist, Novelist and Poet. 1883-1931)

This is the ceremony celbrated for Dev Diwali and held at Prayag ghat along the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
It is known as the “Festival of Light” where the lights or lamps signify the uplighting of darkness and victory of good over the evil within.
Hindus, Jains and Sikhs alike regard it as a celebration of life and use the occasion to strengthen family and social relationships.
For Hindus it is one of the most important festivals, and beginning of the year, especially in North India.

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A Fantastic World

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“We have learnt that nothing is simple and rational except what we ourselves have invented; that God thinks in terms neither of Euclid nor of Riemann; that science has “explained” nothing; that the more we know the more fantastic the world becomes and the profounder the surrounding darkness.”
(Aldous Huxley – English Novelist, 1894-1963)

This picture was shot at Prayag Ghat along the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) during the celebrations of Dev Diwali on the occasion of Kartik Poornima.
The “Festival of Light” is the victory of good over the evil within and those young priests are performing Ganga Aarti with vedic hymns in order to please and welcome the Gods who descend on earth on that special day.

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