152nd Post : Sunrise at Benaras.
Arguably the oldest city in the world, Benaras or Varanasi is claimed to be older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together. Believed to be the abode of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati, the origins of Benaras is still unknown. The holy city perhaps derives its name from the names of two rivers, namely Varuna and Asi (a small steam near Assi Ghat), though it is situated by the great river Ganges.
As per the Wikipedia, Benaras has at least 84 ghats - the steps of which lead to the banks of river Ganges. The most famous of them is the Dashaswamedh Ghat, which is believed to have derived its name from Dasa- Ashwamedh Yagna (ritual sacrifice of 10 horses simultaneously), that was performed by Brahma to welcome Shiva at this place. Sandhya Aarti is performed at this place every evening by seven priests in a synchronised manner after sundown. The ghat being very close to the legendary Kashi Viswanath Temple, thousands of pilgrims from all over the world throng this place every day to perform pujas with ritual bathing in the river. The Benaras ghats offer a spectacular view of the sunrise on the opposite side of Ganges.
I had the opportunity of visiting Benaras for the 2nd time - a couple of months back and I tried to undertake an extensive photo shoot of this great place. Here in this posting, you may view eight of my dawn and sunrise pictures of Benaras..
Happy viewing.
Robin Banerjee.
Arguably the oldest city in the world, Benaras or Varanasi is claimed to be older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together. Believed to be the abode of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati, the origins of Benaras is still unknown. The holy city perhaps derives its name from the names of two rivers, namely Varuna and Asi (a small steam near Assi Ghat), though it is situated by the great river Ganges.
As per the Wikipedia, Benaras has at least 84 ghats - the steps of which lead to the banks of river Ganges. The most famous of them is the Dashaswamedh Ghat, which is believed to have derived its name from Dasa- Ashwamedh Yagna (ritual sacrifice of 10 horses simultaneously), that was performed by Brahma to welcome Shiva at this place. Sandhya Aarti is performed at this place every evening by seven priests in a synchronised manner after sundown. The ghat being very close to the legendary Kashi Viswanath Temple, thousands of pilgrims from all over the world throng this place every day to perform pujas with ritual bathing in the river. The Benaras ghats offer a spectacular view of the sunrise on the opposite side of Ganges.
I had the opportunity of visiting Benaras for the 2nd time - a couple of months back and I tried to undertake an extensive photo shoot of this great place. Here in this posting, you may view eight of my dawn and sunrise pictures of Benaras..
Happy viewing.
Robin Banerjee.
chokh-dhNadhano, mon-volano, :-D
ReplyDeleteA million thanks, Kausik Datta. Keep encouraging.
DeleteSuper pics. You really made my day. Many thanks for sharing...
ReplyDeleteBy the way, how do you enable comments in a blog? I am facing this challange now. I remember comments were not possible when you first started your blog. ( Or when you started your first blog !!) It is working fine now. So, what is the secret ? Please teach me ...
ReplyDeleteAPPLECART : Sir, thanks first. Next... Blog comments. Apparently simple : just log in with gmail or google account first... the Blog page will should enable you to post your comments. The Google people have perhaps deliberately nade the things complicated initially. Happy viewing. Please keep in touch.
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