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Uttar Pradesh { 36 images } Created 22 Aug 2011

Photos from Madhya Pradesh taken in November-December 2008.
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  • Varanasi was our first destination on our India trip. Despite the calmness of the two meditating and resting Sadhus, we made a very hectic experience as we were walking through the crowded city with loaded backpacks on our shoulders. We didn't felt very comfortable as we were looking around and we were permanently surrounded by annoying guys playing guides while they were trying to compel us to follow them to their guesthouses.
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  • Varanasi is one of the holiest place in India which attracts more than 1000000 Hindu pilgrims each year. The city of Varanasi is also known to be one of the most important pilgrimage site for buddhists. In the background you can see the Dasaswamedh ghat, the most crowded and animated ghat in Varanasi.
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  • One of the best ways to see colorful Varanasi is to take one of the boats early in the morning.
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  • According to "Wikipedia" - the term "ghat" refers to a series of steps leading down to a body of water. In Bengali-speaking regions, this set of stairs can lead down to something as small as a pond or as large as a major river. In English- and/or Hindi-speaking areas "ghats" refers to the areas, in the holy river-side cities like Haridwar, Varanasi where stairs exist to access the Ganges River. The numerous significant ghats along the Ganges are known generally as the "Varanasi ghats" and the "ghats of the Ganges"
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  • Our ferryman cruising over the Ganges. The boat trip gave us a pleasant impression to see how life is lived here every morning.
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  • Empty boats along the Ganges River...
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  • At many places you can see the laundry spread out all over the steps of the ghats to be dried under the sun.
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  • Most of the time the laundry is dried on the steps of a ghat. There are nearly 100 ghats in Varanasi and they are all linked together. Every ghat has a purpose: most of them are used for bathing, some for washing, for rituals and some ghats for cremations, like the ghat of Manikarnika - probably the most well-known in Varanasi.
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  • A mother and her boy enjoying the morning view at Varanasi.
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  • A boy running along the waterside of the Ganges.
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  • For some Varanasi is known to be the oldest city in the world. Actually it is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. Once the american writer Mark Twain wrote that Varanasi "..is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together."
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  • Although the man on the right looks like a businessman using a mobile phone, he was just wiping his ear with his finger. I know, stupid photo description, but there are still friends asking me who he was calling in the middle of the Ganges River :-)
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  • Women selling flowers along a busy street of Varanasi.
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  • If you need some tranquility, the peaceful environment of Sarnath is a good occasion to flee from busy Varanasy. The ancient Buddhist Site is located around 10km north-east from Varanasi. In the background you can see a wall coated partially with golden leafs.
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  • We liked to look at the Buddhist people walk around the massive Dhamek Stupa of Sarnath.
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  • According to "Wikipedia" - ...the Dhamek Stupa is said to mark the spot of a deer park (Rishipattana) where the Buddha gave the first sermon to his five disciples after attaining enlightenment, "revealing his Eightfold Path leading to nirvana". The stupa was enlarged on six occasions but the upper part is still unfinished. While visiting Sarnath in 640 AD, Xuanzang recorded that the colony had over 1,500 priests and the main stupa was nearly 300 feet (91 m) high.
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  • Cutting the lawn like this girl does, is one of the possibilities to earn some money in India. Aditionally, from time to time, they get some money from tourists when they take pictures of them. I know, it is written in a lot of books that you shouldn't pay attention when people beg for money. Such general declarations make me feel rather nervous. If poor people ask you food, money or whatever for being photographed, feel free to give them whatever you want.
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  • After exploring Sarnath, we get back to Varanasi. The sunlight was fading as i took this street life photo. At that precise moment i thought back of calmly Sarnath.
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  • For many people cities like Varanasi are places to avoid. As in every poor country, Varanasi is more or less dirty, you will probably encounter rude or nasty people or contract a very bad illness. <br />
It's certainly more save to stay at home, but you will not experience the life sensations from such places through your sense perceptions, you will neither see the colors nor smell the odors that surrounds cities like Varanasi.
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  • To reach the opposite bank of the Ganges you can take a boat or walk across the pontoon bridge which leads, among others, to the Ramnagar fort.
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  • As we came back to Varanasi in the evening we noticed that something very important was going on. A lot of soon-to-be married couples, their friends and relatives - like this beautiful young woman, but also curious people and tourists where gathered at the Ganges riverbank.
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  • Collective wedding ceremonies were held at the Ganges riverbank, a lot of guests came and left the event by boat.
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  • Bride and bridegroom were wearing very fancy clothes.
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  • During the wedding ceremonies the bride wears a saree. In earlier times they were woven by hand and the best were made of silk. Traditional sarees are still produced but they are more expensive as machine-made sarees... and it is said that the best sarees are made of Varanasi silk.
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  • As i was bend over to pick up my camera bag, the water reached my shoes and my trousers. The wedding ceremonies were over, the dirt on the ghat stairs <br />
...and the absent-minded people standing around there, were flushed away by water.
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  • You can observe a lot of monkeys in Varanasi jumping from roof to roof; and if the opportunity presents itself, they will try to steal your goods. For that reason you should never leave the window open, unless it's secured by a grill. <br />
Occasionally the sky over Varanasi is surrounded by kites, and later at night, the riverbanks are illuminated by the fires of cremation.
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  • In Jhansi we realized that there was absolutely nothing do, except to book a train to Agra as fast as possible. But at last we had a very adventerous time at the Jhansi railway station, that we didn't regret at all.<br />
The photo was taken from the Agra Fort, at the background you can see blurry Taj Mahal.
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  • This squirrel was photographed near the entrance of Agra Fort. Most of the indian places we visited were more or less invaded by squirrels.
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  • Rooftop scene of a boy feeding a squirrel. We had an interesting view over Agra from a restaurant roof.
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  • Most of the street merchands build up their stalls in the old city part of Agra near Taj Mahal. Despite the poverty, or perhaps because of it, the atmosphere at the bazaars was very inviting.
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  • Another pleasant market place surrounding the Taj Mahal.
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  • The Taj Mahal, India's most famous tourist attraction, attracting more than 2 million visitors per year. Many architectural wonders are less impressive as you might expect, but the Taj Mahal is one of the most astonishing piece of art i've ever seen. The perfectly molded white marble stones give it its beauty and elegance. <br />
According to "Wikipedia" - the Taj Mahal (also "the Taj") is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage." While the white domed marble mausoleum is its most familiar component, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures. Building began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, and employed thousands of artisans and craftsmen.
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  • Since many years the authenticity of Taj Mahal has been controversially discussed. There are many legends associated with its origins and its name. The most famous story says that the Taj Mahal was built under the Moghul King Shah Jahan, in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Persian Princess originally known as Arjumand Banu Begum, who died after giving birth to her fourteenth child. Therefore, Taj Mahal became the symbol of eternal love. <br />
Another theorie says that the white marble monument was originally a Hindu temple. The indian writer P.N. Oak claims that the Taj Mahal was built long before the reign of Moghul King Shah Jahan. <br />
Currently, historical research insinuates that the legend was probably not a love story. Apparently, the Moghul King was a little bit megalomaniacal. <br />
A little further on, the legend says that - as the King became older,- he spent his remaining days by looking on his beloved wife's tomb through the window of Agra Fort, where he became a prisoner. <br />
Actually, his remaining days were probably more funny and exciting than that. If it is true, he ended his life with excessive drug parties and sex orgies.
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  • The time you stay in cities like Old Delhi, depends principally on how much tolerance and curiosity you have for it. Walking through Delhi can be very nerve-racking for first-time visitors: you have to endure swarms of people, heavy traffic and the smog caused by it. Old Delhi is very dirty, most areas looks like a garbage dumping site and the poors left behind - and there are many - live in very inhuman conditions. But despite all the misery that surrounded us, most of the people we met, were very friendly ... actually i made worse experiences in my own country. <br />
This photo was taken on our way to "Jami Masjid", India's largest mosque.
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  • India is almost certainly the country where the gap between the rich and the poor is huger than anywhere else. Due to undereducation, overpopulation, corruption, the acceptance of poverty on one side and the non-care from the rich on the other side, it is realistic to pretend that India will remain a country of timeless poverty where common people live a hopeless existance without any future.
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  • Our driver at a gas station in Delhi. My last photo before we were driven to the airport.
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