Have you ever tought about stretching to their limits your horizons and your spirit? Have you ever asked yourself if there is such a place on Earth where you could test your very being? I guess there are more than just one, but the most meaningful has a name: Varanasi, land of hope.
The oldest living town of mankind: since 4000 years its famous “ghat“, the steps leading to the river, are aging while being stroked by Ganges‘ holy waters.
Varanasi, a mystic experience which takes the mind to think beyond the earthly life. India has always been the journey of all journeys and for me it ends on the banks of this enhcanting town.
A chasm of colours, sounds and smells greets me among the streets of the “new town” which tangle in an endless congestion of cars, tuk tuks, carts, bicycles, cows, dogs and people. A sight apparently forgotten by its own gods, who clearly live in the deep eyes of a sadu seated cross-legged on the road, in the perfume of the incenses burning on the small altars where the believers leave gifts of flowers, in the gurus to whom many entrust their prayers… and their money.
In the hearth of Varanasi, among narrow alleys, human and animal life crosses and flows in a quiet balance , where everything seems regulated by the coexistence of hope and death.
At the bottom of the gats, during every dawn a profusion of hindus start their ablutions, pray, live all together in this colourful strip of people, addressing to the gods every hope, all enclosed in the feeble of a candle which, dressed by flowers, starts floating on the dark waters of the sacred “Ganga“.
A journey in this corner of the world may appear diffucult and exhausting for our Western eyes, so far away from the traditions of this country. But beyond the garbage, the dirt, the buffaloes and the cows, it is just not possible to withstand the karmic charm emanated by Varanasi.
Born in Prato (Italy), I grew up and still live in a small village on the Tuscan-Emilian Appennine Mountains. I have always been in love with travelling, adventure and exploration. “Wannabe” photoreporter, I tell the cultures and traditions of faraway people. Actually, as soon as I can I pack up and leave!
Wonderful pictures, beautiful colors and a really interesting country – India! 🙂
Thank you so much!