Prayers at Varanasi Ghats - 1
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Cleaning and placing mat for evening procession.
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Setting up articles required for prayer.
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Setting up traditional oil lamps.
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Lady waiting for the evening prayer.
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Final preparations for the prayer ceremony.
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Arrangement of chairs in boat for viewing the evening prayer, ‘Aarti’.
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Priests dress up for the evening prayer.
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Priests performing prayers.
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Slowly the crowd gathers.
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Prayer, called ‘Ganga Aarti’ goes for an hour and half.
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Holy prayers and chants witnessed by a huge crowd.
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Holy prayers and chants witnessed by a huge crowd.
In Varanasi, the day starts with Prayers and Chants at the Ghats. There are number of temples on the banks of Ganga. Most famous of which is ‘Kashi Vishwanath Temple’ dedicated to Lord Shiva. Everyday hundreds of devotees and saints from all over the India and different parts of the world come here.
During evening hours, people make their way towards Ghats for Evening prayer - ‘Ganga Aarti’ which takes place at Dasaswamedh Ghat. As the sun sets, the devotees finish their individual prayers and reach back to Ghats, where stage is being set up for the ‘Ganga Aarti’.
Crowd is gathered on stairs of the Ghats. The whole process, from setting up the stage for evening procession, the final preparations for the prayer ceremony to the Priests performing sacred prayer and ending the prayers with blowing of the conch shell; and at the end people taking blessings from the ‘Aarti’ is simply mesmerizing and worth watching.
For more details: http://www.dsource.in/resource/ghats-varanasi
