[Leica] Varanasi

[Bob Adler]

WOW!
What a wonderful post, Jayanand. So rich and engaging, made whole by your delightful narratives. 
Thank you for revealing the subtleties of a part of the world and of human history I’ll never experience. Story telling at its very best. 
Bob

> On Dec 24, 2022, at 12:14 AM, 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
> 
> Слава Україні! Героям слава!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> 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