Several blasts in Bodhgaya

This morning on 7 July, 2013, in a terror attack, 9 bombs exploded inside the Mahabodhi temple (“Great Awakening Temple”) complex (a UNESCO World heritage site) located in Bodh-Gaya in the Indian state of Bihar which is the Buddhism’s holiest shrine.
The first blast took place inside the temple at 5:30 am, followed by eight successive explosions in the next half hour, one near the Buddha statue, one near the Mahabodhi tree and others near the Teraga monastery, injuring 5 people.
One unexploded bomb was also traced and defused.
The main temple is intact and sanitised.

This holy site is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment.
The site of the Bodhi tree at Bodhigaya is, directly connected to the life of Buddha (566-486 BCE) and attained enlighment or perfect insight when he was meditating under this tree.
The Bodhi tree, which is to the west of the main temple is a direct continuation of original Bodhi tree under which Budha spent his first week after attaining enlighment.
According to the Jatakas, it forms the navel of the earth, and no other place can support the weight of the Buddha’s attainment.

The Intelligence Bureau of India may have alerted state officials of possible threats around 15 days prior to the bombing.
It happens “again” just before some elections in order to raise controversies and disputes which is exactly the opposite of Buddha’s teachings unless it is done in order to mark the Dalai Lama’s birthday who just turned 78 a few hours before those blasts…
Terrorism is not negotiable…Nothing justifies such things…What comes to the mind of those who do such things…???

This insanity is beyond words…I know this place which only inspires love, compassion and brotherhood…
(Last time I went there I took this picture at dawn before anyone came inside the complex)

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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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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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A Minute Part Of Reality

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“The photograph itself doesn’t interest me.
I want only to capture a minute part of reality.”
(Henri Cartier-Bresson – French photographer, 1908–2004)

This is a view of Mansrowar Ghat in Varanasi (Benaras) shot from “The Lotus Lounge” where I enjoy to have breakfast after sunrise whenever I come along the Ganges early in the morning…

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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).

Gold Of The Dawn

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“Night’s darkness is the bag that bursts with the gold of the dawn.”
(Rabindranath Tagore – Indian Poet, Playwright and Essayist, Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, 1861-1941)

This is the Ganges shot at dawn from Dashaswamedh (Main) Ghat in Varanasi (Benaras) at the time of all mysteries…

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In The Silver Singing River

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“There’s beauty in the silver singing river,
There’s beauty in the sunrise in the sky,
But none of these and nothing else can match the beauty,
That I remember in my true love’s eyes”
(Bob Dylan – American folksinger, b.1941)

This child was bathing in the holy waters at sunrise when the Ganges sings a lullaby and kisses with silver drops…

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