words from the world

The Ganges takes the shape of a crescent. One bank abandoned to the nature, one bank dedicated to the religious fervour.
Varanasi, bathed by the sacred river of the Hinduism and its followers' fervour.
Enjoying a sunrise over the holy city from a small boat drifting on the waters, and you'll surely feel this sensation that overloads your senses, this religious tradition which pierces you to the sound of the morning prayers and at the pace of the ancestral rites several generations of Hindu people perpetuate coming to purify and revitalize themselves into the river.
The bank is a string of ghats, stone stairways arise in the parallel alleyways of the river and vanish below into the holy waters. 5h30, in the coolness of the dawn, we go down a few steps and sit down in a wooden boat. The gondolier pushes off the bank and we start sailing on the waters reflecting the glow of the dawn. A cathedral silent in this Hindu open-air temple. The sun rises beyond the pristine bank and lights the polychrome façades of the opposite bank. We "swim" in this scenery up to be intoxicating. Our digital cameras immortalize these moments of life. Thousands of pilgrims give to each one of these moments a unique and unforgetable feature. An ochre and saffron postcard.