The Cursed Edifice, a photo from Uttar Pradesh, North

Photographer's Note

Benaras or Varanasi or Kashi :

The great river banks at Varanasi, built high with eighteenth and nineteenth-century pavilions and palaces, temples and terraces, are lined with an endless chain of stone steps - the Ghats - progressing along the whole of the waterfront, altering in appearance with the dramatic seasonal fluctuations of the river level. The city starts to assert her distinctive personality as one nears these famous ghats where a sea people surge across the steps that lead down to the river. Bearded Sadhus in orange robes and elaborate cast marks on their foreheads invite tourists to take their photographs and then demanded to be paid. Scraggly beggars sit patiently for the gods to provide. Pilgrims drop coins into their begging bowls and notch up good karma. Kids splashed happily in the water’s edge. Pundits perform sacred ceremonies. Boatmen row visitors to the sandy beach on the opposite bank and across the face of the 80 ghats that telescoped into each other.

The ghats of Varanasi unravel like a roll of film, each frame capturing its different moods. Dhobis laying out clothes like a patchwork quilt on the steps; buffalos wallowing in the shallow waters; a stairway going nowhere; fortress like walls flexing their muscles behind temple spires; murals of gods; holy men washing their orange robes; the minarets and domes of a mosque. A murmer of a prayer caressed one’s lips as one cruises passed the city’s burning ghats blurred behind a veil of smoke.

Partly submerged in the water is the leaning temple of Varanasi. Why does this temple lean? Possibly because of its silt foundation, but when in Varanasi, there has to be a metaphysical reason as well. Legend has it that there was a man who made this temple for his mother with the intention to pay everything she did for him. The mother, when she heard this became furious. She said that nothing could ever could repay a mother's love and she cursed that the temple will not stand straight & will lean on its foundation, eventually to fall away. Now this building is not considered to be a temple. When the water level of Ganges is high, almost half of this temple goes under water.

The tilt of the temple is not evident from this POV, as it tilts in the direction away from the viewer. Please see here to see the pronounced tilt of the temple . In this post I wanted to also show a part of the ghat & the ‘holy men’ of Varanasi as well :-)

jhm, pierrefonds, danos, Graal, pajaran, Budapestman, ChrisJ, bayno, josepmarin, SnapRJW, adores, mirosu ha puntuado esta nota como útil.

Critiques | Translate

serp2000 (47063) 2012-05-22 1:30

Hi, Angshuman,
Perfect quality! Outstanding composition, attractive vivid colours and very informative note.
Best wishes,
Serghei

YNO (0) 2012-05-22 2:02

Muhtesem otesi! cok iyi is basarmisiniz gercekten goz alici.iyi gunler

jhm (211736) 2012-05-22 2:41

Hello Angshu,

Lovely architecture picture with the old buildings as subject.
Excellent creation with a little bit water in foreground.
Composition and colors are very pleasant for look at.
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice Tuesday,
John.

npecanhuk (79329) 2012-05-22 2:44

Hello Angshuman!
Very informative, interesting and attractive picture!
Sharpness, exposure, colors, chosen pov, vertical format, black & white borders with grey words, contrasts and composition are excellent and really pleased me!
TFS - congrats,
Cheers,
Neyvan

pierrefonds (114628) 2012-05-22 4:38

Hi Angshuman,

The water is helping to frame the scene. The point of view is showing the details and colors of the architecture of the temple and of the buildings. The presence of the people has an effect of scale. The morning light is giving nice tints to the colors. Have a nice day.

Pierre

Sergiom (117241) 2012-05-22 5:25

Bonjour Angshuman

J'aime beaucoup ce cadrage vertical qui donne une belle ampleur à cet endroit. La luminosité est exceptionnelle et les couleurs bien saturées.

Amicalement

Serge

mohammad_H (10178) 2012-05-22 6:34

سلام انگشومن
نمایش بسیار زیبا از معبد
طراحی بسیار زیبا و خم شدن معبد.انچه در مقاله نوشتید.
در ایران «مناره جنبان » اصفهان نمونه مشابه است
اطلاعات خوب و جامع شما از معبد بسیار عالی
وضوح و قاب مناسب
روز خوش
Very beautiful view of the Temple
Elegant design and bending the temple. What you wrote in the article.
Iran "Jonban minarets" is of the same sample
Good and comprehensive information from the great temple
Appropriate resolution and frame
Good day.

danos (110407) 2012-05-22 8:14

Hello Angshu,
excellent the view as the presentation of the cursed edifice that in the WS is more well looking.
The part of the ghat and the holy men of Varanasi are seen perfect.
I like the details and the clarity of the image with the informative note to complete the scene.

Regards,danos

Bluejeans (64251) 2012-05-22 11:23

Ola Angshuman ,
bela composição dentro de agua neste lugar famoso bem conhecido nosso , são muito bonitos os edifício antigos junto da margem deste rio , boas cores e luz , parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

marcan44 (6315) 2012-05-22 13:03

Ciao Angshuman,
bello scatto in formato verticale che mostra le scalinate che scendono verso il fiume e i templi quasi sommersi.
Bella la legenda delle tue note.
Molto chiari i dettagli, magnifico POV dal basso.
Buona serata
Mario

Gigidusud (21679) 2012-05-22 14:27

Hello Angshuman,
Beautiful composition with nice architecture,great light and splendid reflections on the river.Excellent POV and framing.I like it!
TFS.
Ghislaine

Nicou (193806) 2012-05-23 1:02

Hello

quelle recherche de cadrage sueprb eiamge et ocmpo fantastique vue et captage avec ce maisons et édiffices ces bâteaux, quelle compo a rs l'eau splendide.

bravo et amitié

Nicou

Graal (103040) 2012-05-23 1:08

Hi Angshuman,
nice colourful image. Good vertical composition. An interesting presentation this place in Varanasi. Good note and photowork.
Have a nice day.
Aleksander

alpi1500 (1520) 2012-05-23 2:26

Hi
Ilike the POV.Good compostion and succesful management of light.
Have a nice day.

pajaran (116097) 2012-05-23 6:25

Pozdrav.
Vrlo interesantan i dobar tekst o reci i hramu, sa datim podacima ...
Lep pogled i trenutak, dobra kompozicija.
Dobra ostrina snimka, kontrast i prikaz lepim bojama.
Lepa arhitektura starog hrama.
Sve najbolje.
Paja.

Google.

Greetings.
Very interesting and good article on the river and the temple, with the given data ...
Nice view of the moment, good composition.
Good image sharpness, contrast and display of beautiful colors.
Beautiful ancient temple architecture.
All the best.
Paja.

Budapestman (82620) 2012-05-23 12:16

Hi Dear Angshu,
a beautiful photo with fantastic architectural details, the composition is superb, very nice colours and lights, a splendid photo work, Tfs! Have a nice week! Kellemes hetet kívánok!
Thank you for your kind words to my 1600th post!
György

Waylim (25436) 2012-05-23 22:55

Hello Angshu,

From this POV and angle, all looks jsut fine, I can't detect the tilt. I wouldn't know it if you didn't show it or tell about it. I may not even believe you :)

What I love here is not only the beuatiful landscape with monumental archtecture rich in history, you alos incorporated the daily life and cultural value to it.

Thanks.

Way

papagolf21 (152607) 2012-05-23 23:59

Bonjour, cher Anghsu,
La beauté est toujours présente à travers vos compositions.
Ici, ce temple force l'admiration.
Le rendu général est excellent.
Amitiés.
Philippe

ChrisJ (171888) 2012-05-24 4:43

Hello Angshuman!

A superb daily life scene from Varanasi in India with a wonderful blue sky. Good choice of a vertical frame & an interesting story on the irate mother cursing the temple. Good colour saturation & sharpness. Tfs!

bayno (18348) 2012-05-24 5:50

Hello Angshuman,
have been many times in varanasi but many years ago, it's always exciting to see the photos of his ghat, very nice colors, beautiful temple...quality shot...
have a good day...
Valter

josepmarin (59385) 2012-05-24 9:53

Namaste, my friend Angshuman,
a beautiful vertical composition, which shows us the impressive architecture of this temple, and its ornamental wealth.
The image is very well illuminated and has a few beautiful colors, as well as a good vitality because of the presence of people.
The note gives us a good information about this place, and when we go to the link we notices the inclination of the building.
An excellent work.
Best wishes,
Josep

SnapRJW (31631) 2012-05-25 1:32

Hello Angshu - Daily life and architectural beauty combine to make an exotic and tantalising scene. I love the splashes of red in this image as they add a lovely vibrancy to the composition. Fine work. Warm regards Rosemary

adores (46979) 2012-05-28 17:38

Hi Angshuman!
It's a very good shot of Varanasi! The pov, colours and composition are very good, specially with those people in foreground.
Good idea to put the link to the other shot - here it seems straight!

abmdsudi (95869) 2012-05-29 10:06

Namaste Angshu
I love to see how the wonderful ripply water leads the eyes in throughout the image rendering the extensive depth under that fantastic blue sky and subtle light. What a pleasant scene in delicious colors, superb clarity and so delicately captured. It looks so peaceful yet lively and the small area of vivd reds hold the focus in, together with the contrasting colours make this a very fine image. Brilliant shot, TFS
Warm regards

mirosu (16313) 2012-05-29 23:06

Marvelous photo from Benares. I missed this place during my Varansi visit many years ago. I like the perfect details and excellent colors. Great contrast against blue sky and perfect color reflections in the water. People around make the picture very lively. Well done Angshu.

TopGeo (38220) 2012-06-03 23:39

Hello Angshu! Great daily life scene,in Varanasi Excellent look of temple! great 'low' POV, very good framing and composition! Excellent perspective! Great light management, excellent choice of with great contrasts! Congratulations!
Best regards
Georgios

korbee (6619) 2012-06-05 1:44

Daer Angs,

With such a scenery nothing can go wrong!
For sure one of the fascinating places on earth with an amzing verietey of different architecture.

jan

Photo Information

Copyright: Angshuman Chatterjee (Angshu) (56760)
Genre: Lugares
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2009-02-20
Categories: Arquitectura
Camera: Canon 400D (Digital Rebel XTi), Canon 18 - 55mm / f 3.5 - 5.6, RAW, Hoya 58mm PL-CIR
Exposición: f/14.0, 1/30 segundos
More Photo Info: view
Versión de la foto: Versión original, Workshop
Diario de viaje: Benaras - A Photographic Lesson
Date Submitted: 2012-05-22 0:55