Benares Seen from Within

by Richard Lannoy

English
640 (In Full Color & B & W Illustrations)


From the Jacket :

A rare combination of creative photography and cultural history put together by one man, this book both visually and textually is the most massive presentation of this extraordinary city ever attempted. It is the fruit of a lifelong interest in Benares from 1953 until the present day.

The populace of Benares lives within a historical environment spanning at least three millennia of continuous habitation. Though now beset with all the characteristic urban ills of the age, it is arguably the oldest living city in the world. A centre of learning since antiquity, its way of live has not essentially changed. Its fame as the spiritual capital of India was given added luster two thousand five hundred years ago when the Buddha commenced his ministry there. The book includes an absorbing account of the Buddha's life and the significance of his teaching today.

Lannoy's Benares is no tourist's idyll, nor yet is it an exercise in penddling a 'Third World' mythology of exotica garnished with grunge. Unflinching in his observations, yet enourmously sensitive to his subject, Lannoy records the everyday life of Hinduism' most sacred city. And it is not through the formal acts of ritual, but through the most ordinary gestures of riverside and marketplace that the charged, heightened drama of life in Benares unfolds.

The variety and range of themes is remarkable. Lannoy opens with a revealing account of the way he deals with the interplay between photographic instantaneity and sacred time. He then explains the metaphysical substructure of the city organized as a microcosm of the universe, and proceeds to find photographic equivalents for this, exploring the symbolism of Benares as cosmogram and ce

Paperback

First published October 1, 1999

Reviews

[David Haberlah · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the mesmerising compendium that is “Benares Seen from Within,” Richard Lannoy serves as both a cartographer and a bard, mapping not just the physical, but also the ephemeral topography of the spiritual heart of India, Varanasi. As someone who lived for many years on the subcontinent, I concur with Stephen Spender, who proclaims that “Lannoy's photographs are the real India”. The book showcases an India that is a constant spectacle, a living theatre where every extreme coexists. Lannoy’s Varanasi is at once opulent and desolate, enchanting and stark, living and dying; a symphony of dichotomies that encapsulates our human experience.

An especially evocative facet is the portrayal of the people of Varanasi. They are not mere subjects; they are co-authors, an intrinsic part of the narrative. Lannoy's lens captures their daily dramas with a vivacity that lends them a sort of immortality. They are the sinew and soul of the city, and through them, Varanasi bares its very spirit.

Lannoy stands somewhat alone among Western commentators on India. Where others have packaged India’s mysteries into digestible, often reductive tropes, Lannoy dives headlong into the labyrinth in an ever-curious and respectful exploration of the Indian soul. “Benares Seen from Within” aspires to, and succeeds in, portraying the historical tapestry of the city of cities. The book is a transformative journey and a document of the analogue times.

Richard Lannoy’s magnum opus captures Varanasi with an honesty and a grace that is almost a spiritual experience in itself. Through resplendent photography and the well-researched accompanying text, it invites you to lose and find yourself in the winding alleys and along the timeless ghats of this sacred city. This is not just a book; it is an atlas of the human spirit.

[Brian Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just beautiful ... and India I love