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LOCATION: YEAR:
India, 2009
THE sheer number of people who use the holy river Ganges is staggering. Assuming there is no religious festival taking place in which case the crowds swell further still, there remains thousands of people who make a daily pilgrimage to the river bank to wash themselves, their clothes or their livestock. And whilst the river sustains life, it is also the vessel of death.
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| This scene is repeated all along the banks of the Ganges. The river is an invaluable part of thousands of people's lives. Picture by: JOE BRISCOE |
The location for this particular photo is Varanasi, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and each day countless rotting corpses float past the ghats which line the waters edge.
For those with a strong stomach, HERE is a link to some excellent photos of life on the Ganges. Be aware, a number of the pictures are a little unpleasant.
For those with a strong stomach, HERE is a link to some excellent photos of life on the Ganges. Be aware, a number of the pictures are a little unpleasant.
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| A LITTLE CLOSER: the Ganges - a huge part of daily life and a perfect place to watch the corpses float by. Picture by: JOE BRISCOE |
But such devotion to holy rivers in one religion and charismatic leaders of another places India as one of the most culturally diverse places on the Earth.
The river view as seen in the top photo took me by surprise as I looked out from the platform I was perched on. At this point the Ganges is incredibly broad and for the first time I was able to see just how wide it is. Thankfully I was able to keep the camera steadily enough to retain the distant detail. This is evident in enlarged prints of the picture.
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