Sketches

Monday 13 September 2010

Varanasi

Varanasi (Benares) is the famous pilgrimage city on the Ganges. It's the oldest city recorded to man. Above a scene drawn from the roofterrace of the Dolphin guesthouse, overlooking houses on the riverbank of the Ganges. A woman was chasing after monkeys on the rooftopswhile I drew this, very funny. Next morning at 5 am we went with a boat on the river, where we saw numerous bathers diving into the unbelievably filthy Ganges water. Just a few hundered meter from where human ashes and remains were thrown into the same water....  Schetsen van de Ganges, Varanasi. Boven: gezicht vanaf het dakterras van een guesthouse. Tijdens het tekenen was een vrouw aan het jagen op aartsbrutale aapjes... De volgende morgen om 5uur maakten we een boottochtje op de rivier, overal badende mensen in het ongelooflijk smerige water. Honderd meter vanaf de crematieplaatsen...

4 comments:

Beá Meira said...

How old Varanasi is?

RobCarey said...

Absolutely fantastic works, Rene. I'm really enjoying these travel sketches.

Rene Fijten said...

Thanks Rob; Bea, it is said to be the oldest contiuously inhabited city on earth, 3500 years already. No doubt there will be other cities who claim the same. Sao Paulo maybe? ;)

Beá Meira said...

I suppose the oldest cities are from sumerian civilization: Uruk and Ur. But there are the old Arapian civilization Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, nowadays Pakistan.
Thanks about the information.