I have arrived in Varanasi today to witness the visually rich Dev Diwiali festival. I am leading a photography tour and travelling with a small group of enthusiasts who will be here for the next four days.
Tomorrow evening, there will be a dense collection of lamps glittering on the 2km long ghats of Varanasi. From a distance, it is almost as if stars have descended on earth.
I was at the festival last year too, but a broken right hand that was in the process of recuperating did not allow me to make photographs. My fingers barely had the strength to fold and press the shutter button. Nevertheless, I had carried the camera with the hopes of recording a few images of the celebrations. I was unable to take out the camera or make any photographs in the first few days of my stay. However, on the evening of Dev Diwali, unable resist the temptation of this visual feast, I strapped the camera on, endured the pain and made great effort to click a few images. Here is one of them.
I am looking forward to the festival again tomorrow, this time as an active participant than a viewer with limited mobility.
Today’s photo – ghats of Varanasi glittering in high-power street lights.
Come evening, soon after the Ganga Aarti celebrations in Dasaswamedh Ghat ends, the generally busy ghats become quieter. The steps see no more than an occasional stroller and the river sees a drifting boat or two. Walking back after another day of witnessing the Aarti, this is what I saw.
It is time for me to head to Varanasi again, to witness the festivities of Karthika Poornima / Dev Diwali with a group of photography enthusiasts and subsequently work on a few stories.
This article appeared in October issue of Terrascape magazine, where I write a column on photography. Read all the earlier travel photography articles on India Travel Blog.
When I started as a photography enthusiast more than a decade ago, the subjects that interested me most were landscapes. I used to spend a lot of time travelling in forests, hilly regions and around water bodies, trying to freeze the beauty of the earth with my camera. Over the years, my photography expanded and evolved in several genres including people photography, architecture photography and commercial work. Yet, photographing landscapes continued to be something that I still cherished.
My last attempt in photographing landscapes was in July-August months at Lahaul & Spiti, a mountainous region in the northern parts of Himachal Pradesh. It is a highland between the Tibetan plateau and the Indian Himalayas, where the altitude is always above ten thousand feet. Its landscapes, comprising fast-flowing rivers, snowy peaks, a few calm lakes and high passes form a great recipe for photography. During the early summer months, tiny flowers bloom and carpet the slope, adding colour to the already beautiful landscape.