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Postcard Banaras India Dashashwamedha Ghat Ganges Chrome Lustre Press 1980s
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Chrome · 1980

Postcard Banaras India Dashashwamedha Ghat Ganges Chrome Lustre Press 1980s

Varanasi (Banaras), Uttar Pradesh, India1980ChromeGood

At the sacred hour when the Ganges turns gold, thousands of pilgrims press toward the water at Dashashwamedha Ghat — Banaras's most ancient and revered bathing step — in this vivid chrome-era photograph that practically hums with the din of bells, chants, and boat oars. The image, shot by Pramod Kapoor for Lustre Press, frames the ghat's layered medieval cityscape in a rich palette of amber, ochre, and deep violet: temples jostle with crumbling havelis, a soaring Shiva shikhara in burnt sienna dominates the mid-ground, and the foreground is a dense mosaic of umbrellas, boats packed with worshippers, and the colorful awnings of riverside vendors. Banaras — also known as Varanasi or Kashi — is considered the holiest city in Hinduism, and Dashashwamedha Ghat, where Brahma is said to have performed the primordial ten-horse sacrifice, draws pilgrims who believe a ritual dip in the Ganga here will purify all sins. This card, published from Delhi by the respected Lustre Press imprint, is a fine example of serious documentary postcard photography from India's golden age of travel publishing.

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PC-05511 · Lustre Press
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