Dima Gavrysh is a New York based photographer specializing in documentary and travel photography. 

Ganges of Changes

Ganges of Changes

Varanasi, the city that was already old when Buddha was young, is not immune to change.

The city of god Shiva is one of the top Hindu pilgrimage sites and an auspicious place to die. For thousands of years, the city has drawn devotees for a dip in the holy Ganges. However, now a different crowd also flocks to Varanasi. Tourists from all over the world come to see and experience this ancient and holy city.

Advertisements have sprung up along the ghats, or bathing steps, announcing guest houses, restaurants, internet cafes, yoga classes, and other services catering to foreigners. Varanasi now has an airport, connecting it to other Indian cities. Tour buses line narrow streets and camera-clad tourists come out at dawn to photograph Hindus bathing in the river at sunrise.

The city has been adjusting to its newcomers. Informal rules have been created to smooth out the co-existence of devotees and onlookers. The income generated by tourism is allowing to restore flood-damages ghats and to improve the city. Greater donations and volunteer work go towards the effort to clean up the Ganges and to improve sanitation.

The change is neither good nor evil in the absolute. Shiva is the god of destruction, showing that some things need to pass away in order to allow new creation. Otherwise, the natural cycle of life will cease to continue.