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| Narrow lanes |
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| cattle and dogs seen on the way |
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| Kashi Viswanath Temple |
1) The town appeared too quaint and old
With moss-grown roofs and moldering walls
With shaded casements and pillared halls
Fringed with designs of faded gold
With winding muddy streets not wide
With foul odor coming from every side .
2) The uneven paths and obstructing beasts
Make you wonder at this sordid state
The oldest city adored as heavenly great
To sustain its fame none paid attention least
The priestly class struggles to better their ways
From whom we can't escape but have to pay.
3) Through crowded lanes of temple-city
Where vendors hail you to buy their ware
Displaying flowers, fruits and idols rare
Make you brood and look for true sanctity
At every nook men trade and bargain for everything
No touch of divinity in your bosom rings.
4) A vast expanse of water, pure Ganges seems
The cherished goal of so many devotees
Flowing from snowy heights of purity
Welcomes all to her sun-lit sparkling streams
Her children to take their holy dip and pray
For her motherly blessings in every way.
5) A festive spirit with devotion combined
Enthused pilgrims to chant her names aloud
The mighty river drew a multitudinous crowd
The broad-stepped ghats beside the river remind
The gradual progress of men in course of time
From selfish depths to noble heights sublime.
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| pilgrims on ghats |
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| Pilgrims taking holy bath |
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| Ganga Aarti |
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| People sailing in boats |
6) A fitting backdrop to this Great Ganges indeed
These lofty mansions looking from above
Structured in ancient style, fit expressions of love
Delivered from earthly snares of lust and greed
And feel the holy touch of Ganges near
Their feelings of devotion still we hear.
7) This place gained fame as eternal house of Lord
Sanctified by Ganges, since immemorial days
The seat of salvation, purity and grace
Where great sages and gods did penance hard
And installed countless idols with reverence intense
Where Death delivers souls to eternal heavens.
8) The Ganges thrills our hearts, a soul-elevating scene
In fresh light of the blossoming dawn
With fluttering flags the boats move smoothly on
The ghats assume a pious view serene
The rosy globe of sun worships the golden dome
As pundits pour oblations chanting OM.
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| Panch Ganga Ghat |
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| Manikarnika Ghat |
9) In the dusky glow of twilight, ghats are filled
With crowded pilgrims who eagerly wait
To view Aarti to Mother Ganges Great
A soul-inspiring sight as all are thrilled
As priests holding huge lamps on ghats do stand
Waving Aarti to sparkling Ganges Grand.
10) The ghats look lively with devotees' throng
As bathing pilgrims offer lamps afloat
The priests recite prayers from moving boats
Great Ganges flows like an epic-song
The funeral pyres beside the ghats ablaze
Death too a celebration at this sacred place.
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| Polluted waters |
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| Drainage water flowing into the river |
11) Let cleanliness with our pious acts blend
Let us not fill her streams with tons of waste
Befouling her Himalayan waters so chaste
What use if authorities millions spend
To clean this river of perennial fame ?
Yet all is wasted and who is to blame?
12) So many dead bodies and refuse thrown
Industries destroy life and poison her streams
At every nook pollution reigns supreme
Is this due reverence to pure Ganges shown
Can we create a river in her pristine state ?
Let us mend our ways before it is too late.
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26th December, 2015 Somaseshu Gutala
lovely verses sir. enjoyed it. could recall many glimpses of my earliee visits to BANARAS
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