Tag: ritual

Varanasi can make a visitor feel two things at once: wonder and uncertainty. That uncertainty is not a problem. In many sacred spaces, it is the beginning of the right attitude. The difficulty comes when uncertainty turns into performance: too many photos, too much movement, too much talking, too much desire to “understand everything” immediately. […]

Before sunrise, Varanasi feels less like a city making an argument and more like a city breathing. The river is still dark enough to hold the last of the night. Boatmen move in outlines rather than full faces. Bells ring, but not yet with the insistence of the later morning. A tea fire starts somewhere […]