Varanasi, The City of Light
This project is about Banaras, which is often referred to as "the city of temples", "the holy city of India", "the religious capital of India", "the city of lights", "the city of learning", and "the oldest living city on earth". It's a city of many dimensions. I fell in love with the city when I first visited there in march 2013 during the festival of Mahashivratri. At first it looked just like any other Indian city but it all changed in a couple of days as I began to notice the rituals this city goes through every day. Rituals of life and death. Everyday I tried to connect with the city sewn in the web of pilgrims. In my quest of connecting with the city I noticed its many aspects, its significance to Hindus, its relation with Death and its upcoming modern side. I found the world's oldest living city struggling with its modern side. This is my documentation of the contemporary Banaras, now known as Varanasi.