Capturing the Magic of Varanasi Dev Diwali: A Photographer’s Tale

Discover a photographer's tale of capturing the magic of Varanasi’s Dev Diwali. Learn expert tips for navigating crowds, extreme heat, and tricky light.

Streets pressed wall to wall with people, the air thick with incense and anticipation. I moved forward with the crowd, my camera bag slung across my body. Ghat stairs worn smooth by centuries dropped away below me, filled with hundreds of pilgrims and tourists.

Then, a wave of heat hit. Giant earthen lamps blazed like miniature furnaces. The warmth seared my face and fogged my camera lens. This was no longer photography. It was survival.

This behind-the-scenes post chronicles the true challenges behind the 50+ images found in my Varanasi Dev Diwali blog post.

The Dream to Witness Varanasi’s Dev Diwali

Varanasi celebrates Dev Diwali fifteen days after Diwali, commemorating Lord Shiva’s victory over the demon Tripurasura. Legends tell of gods descending to the ghats on this celestial night.

Today, celebrations create a grand spectacle. Locals and visitors gather to decorate the ghats. Millions of earthen lamps line the stone steps. The glowing ghats transform into constellations on Earth.

A beautiful diya rangoli celebrates Dev Diwali.

For years, Dev Diwali remained Varanasi’s hidden secret, known only in neighbouring cities like Patna. Now, the festival draws visitors from across India and beyond. Locals transform Varanasi’s 84 ghats into a canvas of golden light.

My dream to witness Dev Diwali began in 2018 when I first learned about the festival. Six years passed before I could turn that dream into reality.

I envisioned experiencing the city with fresh eyes, seeing both the streets and the festival preparations for the first time.

The Strategic Design of My Journey

I follow my 3D Framework: Dream, Design, Discover. Each page of this BTS post unfolds through this lens. My dream created the vision, the design built the plan, and the discovery revealed the experience.

Planning for a bustling destination like Varanasi centres on safety. This means protecting yourself and your camera gear.

Timing your arrival and departure matters. I recommend arriving two to three days before the festival to avoid crowds at airports and railway stations.

Early arrival also offers glimpses into festival preparations. Plan to leave one to two days after the event ends.

A sea of people gathers on the ghats to witness the magic of Dev Diwali.

I arrived three days before Dev Diwali 2024. Location scouting became essential when over a million people would flood the ghats on the festival night.

Two options existed for covering the 84 ghats spread across 6.4 kilometres. Walking offered a budget option. Hiring a boat provided a different experience.

Boats allow time to study each ghat and offer flexibility to hop onto steps that catch your eye. Manual row boats suited this experience during dawn and dusk hours. Today, most boats run on diesel engines. The noise and river pollution led me to reject this option.

Alaknanda Cruiseline launched services in 2018, covering all 84 ghats in 90-minute roundtrips. They operate two types of vessels: covered lower decks and open-air decks.

Alaknanda's vessels docked at Ramdas Ghat, ready to sail the Ganga.

I chose the covered Alaknanda vessel for a morning cruise. This allowed me to study the ghats' dimensions, lengths, and widths. Daylight revealed which ghats connected and which stood isolated.

I selected larger open vessels, Swami Vivekananda and Sam Manekshaw, for evening cruises. These provided views of the decorations and lighting. The vessels' size forced them to anchor far from the ghats during Dashashwamedh Aarti.

These three cruise experiences helped me plan my walking route for Dev Diwali day from Dashashwamedh Ghat to Assi Ghat.

When Plans Crumble: A Reality Check

Dev Diwali day arrived. I started my journey to Dashashwamedh Ghat at 3:30 PM. The road to Godowalia Chauraha stretched before me like a river of people.

Thousands of people and vehicles created gridlock. My 2-kilometre journey consumed 1.5 hours.

Police had blocked the Dashashwamedh Ghat access when I reached the square. The crowd splintered, squeezing into narrow bylanes toward other ghats. My walking route died. I lost the chance to photograph Dashashwamedh Ghat.

I chose the Bangali Tola main road for safety. Blocked vehicle access made the walk easier despite the detour.

The 1.5-kilometre route led me through narrow lanes to Pandey Ghat. People pressed from all sides in the narrow lane, but it soon opened onto the ghat.

Pandey Ghat’s magic comes alive as lights drape the buildings like jewellery.

Pandey Ghat’s magic hit me. Lights draped the yellow buildings like jewellery. The structures glowed against the darkness. My enthusiasm rekindled. I headed south toward Assi Ghat.

For Photographers: Gear Decisions That Matter

I work with two Nikon mirrorless bodies: a Z8 and a Z7. Their weather sealing protects them from extreme temperatures.

I prefer cameras without straps for landscape work. Events like Dev Diwali change this rule. Theft fears run high with thousands surrounding your gear.

I use Peak Design straps to solve this problem. They cost more than regular straps but provide security and quick-release features. The textured padding on these straps grips any clothing type and distributes weight.

My Nikon Z8 and Z7, with the lenses that helped me capture Dev Diwali's chaos. ChatGPT AI imagined.

Lens selection depends on your Dev Diwali vision. A single camera body pairs well with a general-purpose zoom lens such as the 24-70mm f/2.8. Two bodies allow flexible use of prime and zoom lenses.

I paired my Z8 with the Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 lens. The Z7 carried the Nikkor Z 20mm f/1.8.

The 20mm focal length avoids the wide-angle distortion of 14mm or 16mm options. This length captures 80% of my wide shots. My Nikkor Z 20mm weighs 505 grams and fits in camera bags due to its compact design.

Before reaching the ghats for Dev Diwali, know your camera gear. Consider these factors:

• Heat tolerance limits of camera bodies and lenses

• Aperture ranges that produce the sharpest images for each lens

• Weight and filter sizes of your lenses (my 20mm, 24-120mm, and 100-400mm trio shares 77mm filter threads, allowing filter reuse)

• High ISO sensitivity limits with your chosen camera-lens combinations to avoid noise

  
  

Navigating the Chaos: Technical and Physical Challenges

Reading Light in the Madness

Planning transforms dreams into reality.

Light controls photographic success. Crowded public events destroy controlled studio lighting techniques.

The ambient light becomes your guide. LED and fluorescent lights mix with fire sources from diyas and fireworks, creating lighting challenges.

Understanding light fundamentals helps you make choices for night images.

A line of earthen lamps glows, merging into fireball effects on the ghats.

Zooming eliminated distracting elements. I focused on where the lamp glow merged into the fireball effects. The heat intensified. My camera felt hot to the touch. Crowds included other photographers with loud, clicking shutters. The moment demanded quick decisions despite challenging conditions.

The Patience Game: Time and Crowd Psychology

Patience becomes your asset for capturing street and festival moments. Here's another story from my Varanasi Dev Diwali experience to exemplify the patience game.

I stood on the ghat steps, searching for my next frame. This area suffered from the worst lighting I’d encountered. Darkness dominated everything.

A group appeared carrying a bag filled with earthen diyas. They placed lamps on the step spaces between standing and seated people. Each diya ignited the next, brightening our surroundings. The group departed after arranging their diyas into a swastika.

A golden glow illuminates the steps as diyas form a sacred swastika pattern.

Golden glow illuminated the crowd on the stone steps. Faces disappeared. I saw an energy unification, as if everyone was drawn toward something unseen and sacred. Light, mood, and setting aligned for my photograph. The image captured this transformation.

The Test and My Defining Image

I reached a position where ghat decorations matched scenes I’d photographed from the cruise vessel the previous evening. Stone steps created layered geometry. Yellow structures bordering the ghat sparkled with millions of light dots.

From the vessel, the ghats sparkle like constellations of light on the river.

Hopes filled me for capturing a defining image from this location. Crowds began flooding in as I started my scanning process. I stood on a high, narrow platform. Stampede fears returned with force.

Crackers exploded a few hundred metres away. Groups and surrounding people celebrated with joy. From my distance, the sounds signalled danger.

With crackers potentially landing on people and combustible materials everywhere, the scene looked dangerous. Safety became my priority. I prepared to leave, packing my camera equipment.

Ground crackers shifted to displays, fireworks shooting skyward. Relief and worry battled in my mind. Worry because danger levels increased. Relief because photographic opportunities emerged.

I pointed my camera toward the sky despite conflicted emotions. A fire beam shot upward. Fireworks streaked across the darkness, scattering gold and stars overhead. Glittering yellow buildings below framed the sparkling crowd at ground level. I captured the moment.

My defining image of the night: fireworks explode above a glowing ghat.

The frame may not win photography awards, but it defined the evening’s spirit within safe boundaries.

The True Story Behind the Shot

The chaotic beauty of Dev Diwali taught me that the most memorable photographs are often found in the surrender to the unplanned moment.

Reflections on the Experience

Dev Diwali in Varanasi challenged every assumption I carried, revealing moments that changed with every step and every fleeting patch of light.

If you’ve ever wandered these ghats, braved festival crowds, or let your camera discover its own story beneath a night sky, I’d love to hear about your experiences.

Share your thoughts, memories, or photographs in the comments below. Let’s build this story together. Your voice and perspective matter here.