From Banaras to Varanasi

After a gap of almost half a century I had opportunity of visiting Varanasi, then called Kashi or Banaras, at the behest of photographic convention of FIP just last week. Varanasi hadn’t changed a bit since my childhood days, excepting it is far more crowded, a lot more dirty, denser in traffic and not to mention a manifold costlier. Of course the modern day bug also has bitten Varanasi as can be gauged from the number of eating places, Domino Pizzas outlets, malls, cinema houses, et al. But one thing hasn’t changed over the five decades and that is the serenity and tranquility and charm of the Ghats. They are as resplendent as they were then. The morning pre-dawn bathers, the Pundits performing pooja and the boats plying in the placid Ganga brought back memories of yore. I append below visuals in form of pictures of the life along the ghats of Ganga during my walk from Assi Ghat to Dashaswmedh Ghat.