Tag: Kashi

In Search of Classical Music Traditions in an Ancient Indian City

VARANASI—Supriyo Maitro is an A-graded vocalist in the most ancient tradition of classical Indian music, “Dhrupad.” He has sung on the television and on the radio, performed before large audiences, yet he hasn’t experienced what the best in his field have described in the tradition—a divine path that seekers call “sadhana” in India’s yogic traditions….


An Ancient City for Cremation Deals With the Pandemic

VARANASI—Pyres burn 24 hours on the banks of the river Ganges in Kashi, a city where Indians have been coming to die for thousands of years because they believe death here can liberate their soul. As the pandemic struck India, Kashi saw fewer corpses reaching its shores, but the ones who came included those dead…