Much Older than Her Age -Varanasi, India
A young girl, much older than her, age looks after her sibling in Varanasi, India.
A young girl, much older than her, age looks after her sibling in Varanasi, India.
The sun slowly emerges through the morning haze and across the Ganges as I trudge along ancient ghats. Thus, a new day begins in timeworn Varanasi, the holiest of cities in India. As I find my way up and down and across endless ghats in near darkness, my other senses are acuter. I am aware of the creaking boatman's oar, the lapping of water against the worn steps, quiet voices murmuring - no, softly repeating mantras. A potpourri of aromas fills my nostrils like a breeze filling stillness. There’s the scent of woodsmoke from the endlessly burning funeral pyres, the ooze of life and death flowing by, and sweat.
For the 80% of Indians who are Hindu, the River Ganges is considered sacred, her water holy. In the ancient city of Varanasi, the ghats that form the river's edge teem with pilgrims and devotees who come for a ritual dip in the Ganges in this holiest of cities. The scene is spiritual and, at the same time festive. The streets and ghats are chaotic. The sounds and smells overwhelm the senses. Yet, in spite of the masses of people, there are moments of solitude, aloneness.
A Hindu devotee performs his morning rituals on the banks of the Ganges River in the ancient city of Varanasi. This morning liturgy includes the cleansing of the body and mind with holy water from the Mother Ganges while reciting prayers and mantras. Hindus believe that adherence to a series of daily morning and evening rituals will curry them favor in life and will purify them for their quest for communion with God.
Crows watch over the early morning rituals at Munshi Ghat on the banks of the River Ganges in the ancient city of Varanasi in northern India.
It is impossible to not be in awe of what is India. She is at once chaotic, unruly, exaggerated and constantly in motion. The pace of life is frenetic and I believe all of India must be sleep deprived. It is impossible, at least for me, to fully understand, much less describe her. And that's the fascination.
A once grand palace stands as a nighttime sentinel, watching over the sacred River Ganges as it flows silently by Benares, more popularly known as Varanasi, on its way to…
"Varanasi is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together” ___Mark Twain Varanasi, in northern India, is…
Varanasi is sacred to Hindus and also one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. To me, it epitomizes India. Life in Varanasi happens on the ghats.The scene…