Silence in the ghats

The 10 ghats of this temple city were virtually silent on Wednesday while a lone priest at each of the ghats performed a symbolic Ganga Aarti without the grand paraphernalia that accompanies the ritual on all other days.

The 10 ghats of this temple city were virtually silent on Wednesday while a lone priest at each of the ghats performed a symbolic Ganga Aarti without the grand paraphernalia that accompanies the ritual on all other days. The symbolic aarti perhaps reflected the indomitable spirit of Varanasi and its people after Tuesday's blast.

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"Yes. It will be a symbolic single-glow Ganga Aarti every evening till Friday, after which the grandeur will return," said Kishori Raman Dubey, head of the Gangotri Sewa Samiti, which organises the aarti at the blast-hit Old Dashashwamedh Ghat.

"After a meeting of the 10 Ganga Aarti Samitis it was decided to organise the evening aarti symbolically with a 'single glow' to pay tribute to Swastika, who was killed, and to pray for the early recovery of the injured."