Chhath Puja..

We've been back in ole Banaras for a little over two weeks now and it feels like our last days living in this city are all too quickly racing away. We've been insanely busy packing up our home and selling off most of the possessions we've amassed over the years, trying to schedule in enough time do decent goodbyes with friends (which I feel we're failing at), trying to not wear out the kids with all the running around (which I feel we're failing dismally at) - and of course, trying to manage all of the above with a family who have all had the flu since arriving back in town.. It's been an exhausting couple of weeks!

But none-the-less, I'm trying to make the most of our last days here and thus trying to get the camera out as often as possible. And whilst those who know me know that mornings are not my most favourable time of the day I decided to get my sorry butt out of bed get and down to the Ghats before sunrise last week to witness Chhath Puja. 

Chhath Puja is a an ancient Hindu festival that centers around Surya (the sun god) in which participants offer puja and gifts to thank the Sun for sustaining life and to grant their wishes. Prosperity, healing, babies and other various wishes are all considered up for grabs over this four day festival in which devotional acts such as abstaining from drinking water, offering prayers at the rising and setting of the sun and prolonged standing in bodies of water are all part of package. Whilst men and women both participate in Chhat Puja, it does seem to be more of a Women's festival and with the noticeable increase of women outside of their homes it actually creates quite a different (and wonderful) atmosphere in and around this overwhelmingly man's world which is Banaras.

I hope you'll enjoy this little morsel from the feast of colour which is the Varanasi Ghats during Chaat Puja!

(And because I can't help myself I have to point out that the compression that occured when uploading these images has done some weird things with some of the colours and really brought out the vignettes. You'll have to be patient and forgive me this time round till I work out how to fix it.)

From The Threshold..

 
There are countless things of physical beautiful in Banaras if you have eyes to see.. or even just eyes in general.. and over the pasts months I've slowly been amassing collections of snaps of my favourite things of beauty from around town and thought now might be a good a time as any to share some of them around.

One thing which plenty of people before me have acknowledged is that doorways here can be truly spectacular! Many of the art works that surround doors have spiritual significance, many are simply for aesthetics, some doorways are relatively new, others truly ancient, but one feature most have in common and one that I find truly wonderful is that they are rarely straight. Whether it was messed up in the construction or simply warped throughout the ages, doors almost never shut properly and are almost always buckling to the side. What this says to me is that every doorway acknowledges and mirrors what this city embodies and lives out everyday; that everything here is just a little bit sideways. 

Enjoy your tour through Banaras; from the threshold..

* Dedicated to our sweet Fräu-Clau with deepest gratitude for the use of her stunning shot as the title photo for this series.

Afternoon On The Gunga..

Last week we were blessed enough to have a few friends from Australia breeze into town and spend sometime with us here in Varanasi. This just so happened to coincide with my entire family coming down sick with various illnesses which, of course, made for an extremely long and difficult week and meant that we spent most of our time running off to see Doctors and staying awake throughout the nights tending to our sick little ones.

Thankfully the day before they left my tribe was all feeling much better and so we were able to join them on one of the staples of visiting Varanasi; a boat ride on the Gunga.

The city is such a memorizing place from the water and there is something so special about the feeling of stepping outside of it and peering back upon it as you float down the river. We've been on the water at sunrise, sunset and night, in the hot season and the cold, and each time I find that it's such a different experience than the last with differing colours, water levels, Pujas and atmospheres along the shore line which means that even though it's hugely touristy, it's also amazing.

I won't say too much more, instead I'll post a few of my favourite photos from this most recent trip down the Gunga and let the images do the talking for me.

Lolark Sasthi..

In these last months the Festival Season has kicked off here in India. I've turned up to university more than once only to find my building all chained up and a bunch of young guys laughing at the hairy foreigner who didn't know it would be closed because of Festival X, Y or Z. Just this month we've had Navratri (a 9 day festival to celebrate Hinduism's Mother goddess in her various manifestations), Durga Puja (which celebrates Hinduism's warrior goddess Durga by filling the city with hand crafted statues of her likeness, and once the rituals are completed the statues are paraded through the city to the Gunga where they're thrown into the river), Dussehra (the 10th day of Navaratri which celebrates Rama's defeat of Ravana, the demon king from Sri Lanka) and in a couple of weeks it'll be my favourite; Divali (which is meant to represent either the killing of a demon fella by a couple of Hindu gods or in other traditions when some different Hindu gods returned from their exile; I've heard conflicting stories), but in reality, it's a wonderful excuse for everyone to load up on fireworks and go to war with one another! It's terrifyingly amazing!

But these photos here are from a different festival, a local one that took place last month known as the Lolark Sasthi. It's an amazingly colourful festival that occurs right outside our old house here in Banaras. The Kund ('Well' - 'Sacred Body of Water') is an Ancient Well that was quite literally below our bedroom window and we used to get the most amazing views of the various Pujas ('rituals') that took place there as we peered straight down into it. And whilst everyday something small would take place, it was the once a year blow-out festival that would literally attracts thousands upon thousands of men and women to bath in the waters and make access to our front door a complete nightmare.

My understanding of it's meaning is that on a certain day of the year when the sun reaches a certain point in the sky it shines directly into the Kund, creating a particularly auspicious moment. By bathing in the waters on this day and offering certain fruits and vegetables to the sun god Lolark Aditya, the pilgrim hopes to attract his favour and thus fall pregnant (with a male child). I'll admit that it's that bracketed part of the last sentence which irks me the most! India's Dowry system means that often Daughters are despised as they represent to the parents a significant financial expense whilst at the same time Sons are greatly prised for they represent to the parents a new Goat, block of land or a foreign BMW when it comes time for their son to marry.

The view from our old Bedroom window

But putting that to the side, one thing is for certain; the Lolark Sasthi is a colour feast for the eyes! After taking your dip in the waters, pilgrims remove their old clothes and leave them on the steps, walking away dressed in brand new outfits. It doesn't take more than a few hours before the entire area is covered in layers upon layers of brightly coloured sopping wet Saris and the water is full of various Melons and Loki (a phallic vegetable if ever there was) which the Pilgrims will abstain from eating until they birth a Son.

Having myself gone through many years of struggling to conceive a child with my wife, my heart breaks for many of the Men and Women I see descending those steps with that look of pained hope in their eyes as they seek to win the favour of a Sun god who is largely ambivalent towards them. I do pray for them to my God; the Son of God, that in His great love for them he would open the wombs of many of these sweet women who feel the shame of not being able to bare children at all. I pray that these families would be blessed with children (boys AND girls) who they would adore, love and cherish and who would grow up to be Men and Women that would radically change this cultures perception of the worth of girls from a curse to a blessing. And in amongst all this beauty and colour, it is nice to imagine what a place this could be!

Beauty & Chaos..

This is Chet Singh Palace, a gorgeous old Fort that sits on the Gunga (Ganges River) not too far from our place. I took this photo at sunrise back in April this year and I simply love the way that the ubiquitous grime and sludge can momentarily disappear and the whole city begins to shine each day at first light. That the grime is gone is an illusion to be sure, but it's worth giving into the illusion, even just for a little bit, and simply bask in the stunning show of ancient beauty this place puts on each day.

I also love the way that even amongst the crazy flooding that's currently going on in our city the locals can take the time to make the most of the rising waters by combining elements that we can all enjoy; stunning ancient architecture - and jumping off tall things.

(All the following photos are taken of the tower on the left in the above image)

When my Winnie Wild Flower came home earlier she said "As I was walking up the path to our house I swear I saw a boy flying through the air over near the Gunga!" Turned out she wasn't half wrong.

 

It's worth noting the white writing on the wall down near the water as it identifies the high water mark from the biggest floods Varanasi had back in 1962. It's only a few more feet before it reaches that spot and the waters are still rising daily so it will be a very interesting next few days to see what happens and whether more parts of the city will go underwater. Prayers for the people of Banaras would certainly be worthwhile.