Monday, March 31, 2008

Jagannath Ghat

Last Saturday I and my friend went to Jagannath ghat to try our luck with street photography. A "Ghat" in general term is a concrete structure built on the bank of a river to facilitate bathing, and as such has a rest room and the stairs that get down to the water. Jagannath ghat is one of the oldest on the bank of the Ganga in Kolkata. The installation has some architectural speciality, unlike others. One can find the porcelain tiles lining the inner walls of the rest room, wrought iron columns and nicely curved ventilators.







Photographers flock the place to shoot at the colorful flower market nearby. The colors are fascinating!! I hope to go there again to capture some more color.

The ghat itself is the place for lots of activities. The daily life passes by with the devotees singing bhajans at their ashrams or local youngsters watching latest Hindi movie in a shady video parlour or people bathing in the river and observing different rituals.

While returning I found this lovely couple playing in the shade of the rest room.

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Sunday, March 30, 2008

Holi - The Color Festival

The Friday before the last one was very special, it saw religious celebrations by the three major religious groups - the Hindus, the Muslims and the Christians in India. The Hindus had Holi, the color festival, the Muslims commemorated the birth of the Prophet and the Christians observed Good Friday.

On that day I visited Santiniketan with my friends, which is one of the cultural hubs of Bengal. It was conceptualized by the great poet Rabindranath Tagore. Holi at Santiniketan has a special aura of cultural sophistication around it which people flock there to enjoy. However, change is the only constant in human life, so these days you can also find some not so well known rock-bands performing there. I tried to capture these moments while taking photos there.



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