Flash Back Friday - VARANASI INDIA - How to Prepare

Flash Back Friday

VARANASI INDIA

HOW TO PREPARE

Welcome to Flashback Friday – Where we share previously published articles which were reader favorites. Hope you enjoy this Friday’s article, originally published in 2014

Planning an outting to Varanasi India? Wondering how to best prepare? Based on my experience in Varanasi I would say that the best preparation plan for a visit to Varanasi can be summarized in three simple words:

FORGET ABOUT IT!

There is, quite frankly, no way I can imagine that you could prepare youself for your first visit to Varanasi. The city, built right on the bank of the Ganges River where buildings literally rise out of the water, is considered to be the most holy of cities for Hindus. Pligramage to Varanasi is a prime spiritual journey for Hindus. Throngs of people converge on the city to worship, celebrate and share in various Hindu ceremonies. Varanasi, one of the world’s longest continually inhabited cities (ranging back some 5,000 years by some estimates) is old, crowded, and full of people and life. It is an experience which is quite literally an assault on all your senses. And of course, it is a photographer’s feast.

How to prepare yourself for your first visit to Varanasi? – there is no way. It is a city which must be experienced.

VARANASI – A BRIEF PHOTO ESSAY