Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2022/12/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Don, Luis, Brian, Ric Bathan, Alan Thanks for looking. Varanasi is a very photogenic city, and on this short trip I had no time to explore the narrow back alleys of the old town, which are akin to rabbit warrens, and are just about wide enough for a motorcycle to traverse. That is for the next visit! Don, many of these images are easy enough for any tourist to get, as long as you are on a boat on the river in the evening! Luis, these photographs were not taken with a smartphone, if that is what you meant, they were taken with the Nikon Z9 paired with either the Nikkor Z24-70mm f2.8S or the Nikkor Z 70-200mm f2.8S lenses. The Nikkor Z series lenses are really exceptional for digital cameras, superior to any equivalent lenses I have used, no doubt due to the very large diameter of the throat, which makes designing highly corrected and very fast lenses possible. Cheers Jayanand On Sat, Dec 24, 2022 at 1:44 PM Nathan Wajsman <photo at frozenlight.eu> wrote: > Really impressive! I had seen the cremation images on FB already, but > better to see them here. Among the rest, I especially like the incense and > reeds images, but really, all are excellent. > > Cheers, > Nathan > > Nathan Wajsman > photo at frozenlight.eu > > http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws > http://www.greatpix.eu > http://www.frozenlight.eu > > ????? ???????! ?????? ?????! > > > > > > > > On 23 Dec 2022, at 04:03, Jayanand Govindaraj via LUG < > lug at leica-users.org> wrote: > > > > Neela & I had gone on a trip to Bandhavgarh National Park, followed by > the > > temple town of Khajuraho, and finally Varanasi on the River Ganges, one > of > > the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and the high seat > of > > Hinduism. To start with a few impressions of Varanasi, mostly seen from > > boats on the river, as the hotel we were staying was situated on the > river, > > and not accessible by vehicles - only by boat, or on foot - so a lot of > our > > movement was on boats: > > > > Ghats are access points on any river/water body. There are 84 ghats in > all > > on this stretch of the Ganges - some a few years years old, and some > > thousands of years old. This is a view from the terrace of our hotel, > which > > was situated on the river at Darbhanga Ghat: > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221206-050-Edit.jpg.html > > > > The ghats are interconnected, so it is possible to walk from one end to > > anther on the rivers edge, taking in sights like this one - shaving of > > one's hair is a common act of piety and penance in Hinduism: > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/untitled-20221209-896-Edit.jpg.html > > > > Varanasi is probably the holiest city in Hinduism, and the main temple > here > > is the Kasi Viswanath Mandir (the tower of which is visible just to the > > left of the central lamp post in the photograph). As it is also Prime > > Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency, it is getting a much > > overdue facelift, including this modern, clean and efficient access to > the > > temple from the river: > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221206-184-Edit.jpg.html > > > > The Ganga Aarti is a photogenic, daily tourist spectacle of a tradition > > thousands of years old, offering prayers to the goddess Ganga, after whom > > the river is named, on the banks of the river, at Dasashwamedha Ghat, by > a > > dozen priests. It is about an hour long, and these are some views of the > > ceremony from the river - a variety of props are used - conchs, lamps of > > different types and sizes, incense, fans made of reeds as well as peacock > > feathers, among others: > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221206-199-Edit.jpg.html > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-151-Edit.jpg.html > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-181-Edit.jpg.html > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-185-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-2-Edit.jpg.html > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-591-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-Edit.jpg.html > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-732-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-Edit.jpg.html > > > > These two young men seem to be more interested in their smartphones > rather > > in the spectacle going on: > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221206-206-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-Edit.jpg.html > > > > The floating of small lamps in the Ganges is a ritual done to pray for > good > > health and well being of your loved ones: > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-104-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-Edit.jpg.html > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-095-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-Edit.jpg.html > > > > In Hinduism, the belief is that all your sins are washed away by dying in > > Varanasi, and being cremated on the banks of the River Ganges, so this > is a > > constant activity. The main location is Manikarnika Ghat, where multiple > > cremations happen 24/7 through the year - here are impressions taken at > > sunset, and at night: > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/untitled-20221208-881-Edit.jpg.html > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-780-Edit.jpg.html > > > > Finally , a portrait of a young man I caught while disembarking from a > boat > > at night, both in B&W and Colour: > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-087-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-Edit+B_amp_W.jpg.html > > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Varanasi/varanasi/Varanasi-20221207-087-NEF_DxO_DeepPRIME-Edit.jpg.html > > > > Please see LARGE. > > > > Comments and criticism, as ever, welcome > > > > Cheers > > Jayanand > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Leica Users Group. > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information