Glimpses of Ganges at night - the circle of life... Original Photos

in travel •  8 years ago  (edited)

Flowing by the 5000 year 'young' civilization of Benares, India, the river Ganges adds a strange charm to the city. Revered as the holiest river in Hindu culture, a boat ride down the river at dusk is an experience that demonstrates the circle of life - Hope, penance, reverence and death - to start a new afterlife... one can see it all.

Darkness and quiet lapping sounds of water surround one while the brightly decorated buildings and river approach stairs (known as 'ghat') provide a contrast that reminds of the belief of people of Varanasi that everything is a celebration!
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The trip starts as you approach the river and taken in the vista of the the boats, gently bobbing up and down on the river in rapidly receding dusk light.
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A moon ascends soon and casts its mellow glow as people prepare for the 'Ganga Aarati' (Prayer to River Ganges)
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On two prominent ghats, thousands of people throng together (on the ghat and in a multitudes of boats on the river) as 7 high priests offer prayers to River ganges
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The ceremony starts with blowing of the Conch
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Then various rituals are performed including burning scented incense
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Followed by the main prayer accompanied by swinging of huge oil lamps....
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The devotion and reverence of the priests for the holy river shows clearly ..
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People in boats offer their own prayers by lighting lamps and letting them float on the river...
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As this celebration of life brought by the river Ganges goes on, there are funeral pyres burning away on another ghat....
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The circle of life and death goes on and on ...

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This post received a 2.3% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @vm2904! For more information, click here!

These photos are incredible! I'm following you! I love learning about other parts of the world. I haven't had a chance to travel YET. But hope to change that real soon I'm working on getting a passport right now.

It is an honor that you are following my blogs. I will do my best to show interesting parts of the world and wildlife through my blogs. Thank you

Aww thank you! You can be my eyes, Because I may not travel as often right now LOL.

Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by vm2904 from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, and someguy123. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.

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Stunning place and stunning photos!

Thank you @onetree. Nothing compared to your blogs but encouraged by experts like you, I try to bring something interesting for fellow Steemians

Beautiful story, beautiful photos and beautiful place!

Thanks @pepe.maya. You must plan a visit :) Thanks for your appreciation of the blog.

wow. I like these!

This blog ( @ygchen ) and @ygern (the bookstore post you just commented) belong to the same person. I created another account because I am trying to separate chinese and english postings. This one is for English. I think this is a better way for my followers to avoid their feeds full mix with posts that they can't read.

So cool!! Thanks for sharing with those who don't get to travel that far!!

Nice job @vm2904! Have a nice time!

Wow... very beautiful photomontage! It's one of the great things about this community... the way it is truly global and we can get glimpses into cultures around the world.

Thank you for your words of encouragement, I will attempt to bring interesting places and wildlife to Steemit.

This post has received a 2.13 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @vm2904.

Wow, really nice photos! Looks like a really touching experience. Keep it up mate!