One is compelled to take pictures of the graffiti on the Ghats of the River Ganga. Artists and travellers from across the world have been moved or motivated to leave behind an imprint of their soul searching on the Ghats through some beautifully rendered artworks.
However, some newspapers and locals have a different story to tell. They feel the painters are defacing the ancient walls of the Ghats. Tourists who travel to see the wonder of the River Ganga are treated with pathetically painted advertisements and images on the Ghats. Their opinion is that this disgraceful movement of vandalism needs to be kept in check.
Ads apart, some artworks do transcend their purpose and look good, adding another dimension to the place. It is a marriage of east and west, culture with art and the merging of two expressions of purity; manmade and god made. It is also a method to keep locals from messing up the Ghats and the walls with their daily activities.
A rustic looking cycle rikshaw painting on the Ghats, by an artist called Oliver.
'Sab Milega' or 'Kuch Milega' ? Or Sab Kuch Milega? How do you read this?.
Videshi Babaji - is a connotation to a holy man from ' foreign' - reading between the lines it is a pun on the pot-smoking 'free spirited' folks on spiritual journeys.
Finding true love amidst shit.
Tea and Boat - a tea shop sign painted by a some Korean tourists for a popular Tea Stall on Pandey a.k.a Korean Ghat.
Shiva - Ganesha - Parvati, Sathya Sai Baba, Ram - Seeta - Hanuman or Sai Baba, have your pick, or pray to them all at one go. Godly families or single saints - are depicted in this mural painted by S K Arts. Ironically this is a commissioned ad for an insurance and estates company with 'Revocable trust', two contradicting words as the tag line (lower right corner).
And Videshi Babaji painted again, in the claustrophobic streets above the Ghats.
A single vibrantly painted fish in one of the smaller lanes, painted for no specific reason..
Taking outdoor paintings to another extreme are the common sermonic signs painted on the Varanasi river front. Warning, cautioning, preaching or pleading these signs seem to be more of a personal public welfare project that have been painted by an anonymous 'Atmaram - Grasis' on each Ghat.
