Varanasi, also known as Kashi and Banaras, is a city in the
northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh dating to the 11th century
B.C.E. Regarded as the spiritual capital of India, the city draws
Hindu pilgrims who bathe in the Ganges River’s sacred waters for
prayer and ritual. In Varanasi, one is in a time warp where one is
living in history as if time has never stopped, for the people,
both residents and pilgrims, continue their daily practices and
worship in ways relatively unchanged for millennia, a continuum of
thousands of years. Being in Varanasi is like being on a thread
pulled from a cloth that dates back to the beginning of time. Here,
one doesn’t “see” a ruin, as one does in other ancient
civilizations, but a living city where history hasn’t stopped.
David Scheinbaum guides us, with his camera, through the city’s
winding streets that are filled with thousands of shrines and
temples at virtually every turn. He takes us on an incredible
visual journey to the Ganges, the sacred river where bathers are in
prayer, and to the funerary Ghats, steps that lead down to the
river where cremations take place, filling the air with incense and
burning pyres. Hindus believe that being cremated along the banks
of the holy Ganges allows one to break the cycle of death and
rebirth and attain Moksha, (salvation) making it a major center for
pilgrimages. David Scheinbaum’s beautiful, soulful photographs
present an ancient, holy city immersed in prayer. Woven through are
the words of B. J. Miller and Diana L. Eck, noted scholars and
writers who each shed light on the special qualities that make
Varanasi the holy city it has always been.
General
Imprint: |
George F. Thompson
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
May 2023 |
Authors: |
David Scheinbaum
|
Contributors: |
B.J. Miller
• Eck Diana L.
|
Dimensions: |
273 x 305mm (L x W) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
160 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-938086-96-0 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
1-938086-96-1 |
Barcode: |
9781938086960 |
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