Banaras: Painting the Sacred City

Banaras, the religious capital of India, has fascinated Manu Parekh, one of India’s leading modern painters, ever since his first visit there in 1979. Over the next decade and a half, he kept returning to Banaras and produced a series of works in which he has attempted to capture the essence of the world’s oldest living city, a sacred place where the mundane and the sublime coexist. The Ghats where the faithful gather and the funeral pyres blaze; the narrow, busy lanes where everyday life carries on; the boats ferrying pilgrims on the Ganga; evening lights in the shrines by the river-all these provide the images and symbols that Manu Parekh uses to create powerful and dramatic compositions. This picture book brings together, for the first time, seventy-five paintings from Manu Parekh’s Banaras series. Showcasing some of the artist’s best work, this beautifully produced volume is a collector’s edition.