Kanwar Yatra. Dashaswamedh Boarding House, Varanasi Photo by Bhargav Shandilya Dashaswamedh Ghat flooded with the devotees of Shiva participating in Kanwar Yatra. Kanwar refers to a genre of religious performances where participants ritually carry water from a holy source in containers suspended on either side of a pole. The pilgrimage derives its name from the contraption, called kanwar, and while the source of the water is often the Ganga, it can also be its local equivalents. The offering is dedicated to Siva, often addressed as Bhola (Simple One) or Bhole Baba (Simple Grandfather/Father). The pilgrim, accordingly, is a bhola, and in the vocative, bhole! Although there is little mention of the Kanwar as an organized festival in canonical texts, the phenomenon surely existed in the early nineteenth century when English travelers report seeing Kanwar pilgrims at many points during their journeys in the north Indian plains. (via Instagram: Varanasi Guru)
