This month’s issue of Mondo Arc magazine features some of my work from Dev Diwali Festival in Varanasi. See the story here, or scroll down for the unedited question and answers. Most of these images are made during my annual photography tour to Varanasi, which we conduct in November.
Q: Tell me about the experience of creating the images in Varanasi…how did you chose the subject.
Varanasi has an unseen depth to it, rarely understood by its visitors. During the day, it’s a busy mix of pious pilgrims hoping to earn merit in the other world, businesses that depend on them and tourists who are looking to witness all this. As the night falls, the dimly lit alleys grow quiet and everyone congregates at an explosion of lights at Dasaswamedh Ghat, where the evening ritual of Ganga Aarti is performed by priest swaying torches under floodlit steps leading to the river.
Behind all this is a belief that moves the city and an energy that holds its constructs together. My motive has always been to capture this belief and energy that serves as the city’s foundation. I attempt go behind the faces and their interactions, trying to catch an unseen flow of otherworldly forces that appear define the city’s way of life. The people, the lights and the rituals form manifestations of this internal energy through which I try to represent the ethereal mystery of the city.
Come winter, I look forward to travelling to Varanasi on the occasion of Dev Diwali. A festival not to be confused with Diwali, this is celebrated two weeks after Diwali, more commonly called Karthika Poornima festival in many parts of the country.
A lady lighting the lamps on the ghats during Dev Diwali in Varanasi
On the evening of Dev Diwali, the three-kilometer long ghats–steps leading to Ganga–are all lit with thousands of small earthen oil lamps. The entire stretch appears as though stars have arrived on earth for an excursion. It’s believed that the entire pantheon of ghats descend on earth for a dip in Ganga on this day. Pilgrims too arrive in the ghats in large numbers on the occasion of Dev Diwali, and Panchganga Ghat becomes the most favoured bathing place for the day.
The above photograph was made during this year’s Dev Diwali, which was two weeks ago, when I was leading a photography tour in Varanasi.
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.