India in Black and White

Sometimes India works in monochrome too. These photos were all taken in Varanasi last year.

Amritsar goes green

I was listening to the excellent BBC Wildlife podcast today and they mentioned that the authorities at Amritsar have banned all plastic bags and that all the meals served (some 100,000 a day) will use only organic, pesticide free produce. Good for them.

You can subscribe to the BBC podcast HERE

Sikh guard at the Golden Temple

Varanasi

Some more photos from my recent trip to India...

Varanasi photos

Some more photos of Varanasi.

Signs

India is a rich source of odd signs. Here's a phonetic one advertising sight seeing in Varanasi.

Varanasi photos

Some photos from my recent trip to Varanasi in India...

Puja

There were many devotees on the banks of the Ganges offering puja, or offerings to the god's. These are the activities in each ceremony:

1. The deity is invited to the ceremony.
2. The deity is offered a seat.
3. The deity is asked if the journey has gone well.
4. The deity’s feet are symbolically washed.
5. Water is offered so the deity may wash face and teeth.
6. Water is offered for sipping.
7. The deity is offered a water-and-honey drink.
8. Water is offered for symbolic bathing.
9. Here a cloth may be wrapped around the image and ornaments affixed to it.
10. Perfumes and ointments are applied to the image.
11. Flowers are offered before the image, or garlands draped around its neck.
12. Incense is burned before the image.
13. A burning lamp is waved in front of the image.
14. Foods such as cooked rice, fruit, clarified butter, sugar, and betel leaf are offered.
15. The worshipper and family bow or prostrate themselves before the image to offer homage.
16. The deity is dismissed.

Lucknow Station 3 a.m.

Bejewelled beggars,
Beseiged clerks.
Fatigued soldiers,
Naked children lie on the dirty marble floor near hopeless mothers in the strip light safety of the booking hall.

Lucknow station 3 a.m.

Wet, wet, wet

I arrived in Lucknow about 2 am yesterday and caught a 'tuk tuk' straight to the railway station. But of course I was told 'first class tickets are not sold between the hours of 9 pm and 6 am', no reason, just the way it is. I had a quick look at the train waiting on the platform and decided I couldn't take a six hour night time journey in 'cattle class' so I found a cheap hotel near the station and pressed on to Varanassi the next morning in the comparative comfort of a 3 tier sleeper.

I thought the monsoon was supposed to be over? I spent today wandering around the gats and back streets backstreets of Varanasi in the pouring rain. Let's hope tomorrow is a bit brighter.

Timeless India

Wherever you look in India you'll see a way of life that hasn't changed for a hundred years.

Pest control in India

For just the equivalent of 25 cents you can be the proud owner of this cutting edge pest control device. The passing resemblance to a tea strainer is purely coincidental.

Wordless Wednesday

The kirpan

Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru, commanded that all Sikhs must carry their kirpan or dagger at all times... even when bathing.

Is it Karma?

Most of the Indian religions have a belief in karma. This rickshaw driver probably earns less than a couple of dollars a day but there's a wisdom and serenity in his face that belies his hard life. There's something for all of us to learn here I think.

Rickshaw driver, Chandigarh

Nek Shand

Nek Shand is an Indian artist whos lifes work is a rock garden in Chandigarh. He used scrap and waste material such as broken pots and bangles to make hundreds of figures which he placed in a landscaped garden that he worked on secretly for 18 years.

Nek Shand Rock Garden

Wordless Wednesday

The beginning of a journey

Boswell and I always try and visit train stations when we are travelling, even if we aren't catching a train. There's always a lot of activity and photo opportunities especially in India. This little one is at the start of her journey.

Amritsar station

No trip to India is complete...

... without seeing a ridiculously over-loaded vehicle. Here's one we saw in Harike.

The feeding of the 150,000

A basic tenant of the sikh religion is the provision of free food and lodgings to believers and non-believers alike. Some 80,000 people are fed at the Golden Temple every day (although this can double at weekends). Massive cauldrons of steaming, soupy dahl (meat is banned in and around the temple) are stirred all hours of the day and dished out in huge eating halls. The clatter of the metal dishes as they are returned for washing is deafening.

All the helpers here are volunteers who put in a few hours work as part of their visit to the shrine.

The kitchen in the Golden Temple

The Golden Temple

The Golden Temple in Amritsar is the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion. It was built in 1574 and contains the Sikh holy book, the Adi Granth. As it's a working religious centre (holy men read aloud from the book all day and night) it has a truly spiritual feel and is bustling with people day and night.

Everyone is genuinely friendly and only too happy to talk... we must have had our photos taken about a hundred times.


Sikh devotees bathing at the Golden Temple