Fujifilm X-T2, Poetry, Street Photography
by Patrick Jennings

Golden ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #76

Golden, The Ganga, (Ganges River), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
Oars dip gently
Into Mother Ganga
A calm, steady rhythm
Like a deep breath

While the bells clang
Insistently
In golden Varanasi

Where the priests
Celebrate Shiva

With a dance of fire

Golden
The Ganga
(Ganges River)
Varanasi
Uttar Pradesh, India

Taken during travels, 2017

Across the Ganga, at Dashashwamedh ghat on the right side of the frame, hundreds and hundreds of spectators watch two separate groups of priests perform the nightly aarti ritual, in which a commitment is made to the Lord Shiva, Mata Gange, Surya, Agni (Fire) as well as the whole universe made by the Lord Shiva. Half the audience crowds the concrete steps on the river banks. The other half, including me, arrive by boats of all sizes to watch from the Ganga.

Upcoming posts will describe this ceremony in better detail, with photographs of course.

Last week journeyed down the River. This week? Let’s seek what’s Golden, or find something else to inspire your creativity in this photograph of a languorous row across Mother Ganga toward golden Varanasi and the nightly Hindu religious ritual performed on the river banks.

The Pic and a Word Challenge is a weekly creativity prompt offered Sunday mornings.

Each week I provide a photograph of mine along with a single word. The challenge? Use the pic and/or word as points of inspiration to create something — a photograph, a painting, prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, longread or just a few words. You are welcome to use these two elements (photograph and word) literally, thematically or metaphorically. If you create both images and words, all the better.

To participate:

  • Use any title you like
  • Your response can be words and/or an image
  • You may use my image in your post, or any image you have created
  • Place the challenge’s Pic (if you use it for inspiration) and Word prominently in your post
  • Mention that you are responding to the Pic and a Word Challenge
  • Add a link to this post in your response

To help us find your response — whether on WordPress, Instagram, Flicker, Tumblr, etc. — you can also:

  • Add a comment on this post to announce your response
  • Apply the tag/hashtag “Pic and a Word Challenge” or “#picandawordchallenge to your post

Each week, I’ll list the previous week’s responses at the end of the new challenge. I may also share some on my social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc.

Last week’s challenge: River

Trimurti Gurudatt Ashram, Ganga, The Ganges River, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
Challenge #75 ~ River
The word for last week’s Pic and a Word Challenge #75 was River, along with this photograph of Daughter Ganga, The Ganges River in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India.

Four journeys down the sacred River this week. Thanks everyone! =)

View all the Pic and a Word Challenges, including the current challenge, on the Pic and a Word Challenge tag page.