Category Archives: India From time immemorial, the Ganges has been the holy river of Hinduism. And, of all the spots on this long river – which rises in the western Himalaya and flows 2,510 km (1560 mi) through India and Bangladesh and into the the Bay of Bengal – the ghats, the steps leading down to the water’s […]  Sunrise is the beginning of something … The pilgrims on the Varanasi ghats along the Ganges are absolutely absorbed in their preparations of offerings to the Mother Ganga, in their ritual ablutions in the sacred waters, or in their pre-dawn meditations. Time loses all meaning. Pilgrims have been travelling here to bathe in the Ganges River […]  (Click for: Ganga Aarti : Sacred Hindu Chants) It is said that Lord Shiva, one of the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity, created the city of Kashi (Varanasi) with his hands. That is why Varanasi, one of India’s seven holy cities, is said to be the country’s spiritual capital. The holiest parts of this sacred city […]  I was already in love with India when I made my first visit to Varanasi. That magical northern city exceeded my already-high expectations and left an indelible impression. The spiritual capital of India, Varanasi (Benares, Banaras, Kashi), sits on the left bank of the Ganga (Ganges) in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Dating back […]  It is heartbreaking watching the situation in India with the Kappa and Delta B.1.617 variants of COVID-19 sweeping through the population and devastating communities. First detected last October, the variants – and the societal factors enabling them – have caused a huge second wave of infections and resulted in around 4000 deaths per day at […] |
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