LAURENT GOLDSTEIN Photography

This is a sacred sculpture from Kolkata's Indian Museum whith a fascinating composition. The museum is located in Chowringhee on Jawahar Lal Nehru Road, known as “Jadughar”, and is one of the earliest museums established in the world and considered the largest in the country. Sometimes arise mysterious fluids taking different shades of colours, the purle glow leads to the path of dreams... (Kolhata- West Bengal - India)

This apsara (celestial nymph) was sculpted during the 8th century AD by the Ganga Pratihara School and is coming from Etah in Uttar Pradesh before resting in the Bharat Kala Bhavan, the Art and Archaeological Museum of Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi (Benaras). (Varanasi - Uttar Pradesh - India)

This is a contemporary Ardhanarishvara statue facing the main building of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi (Benaras). Ardhanarishvara is a composite androgynous form of Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati. Ardhanarishvara is depicted as half male and half female, split down the middle, it represents the synthesis of masculine and feminine energies of the universe and illustrates how Shakti, the female principle of God, is inseparable from (or same as) Shiva, the male principle of God. The union of these principles is exalted as the root of all creation. Another view is that Ardhanarishvara is a symbol of Shiva's all-pervasive nature. (Varanasi - Uttar Pradesh - India)

This is a detail of a sculpture at the corner of a door of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi (Benaras). The amazing Gothic style architecture of the building established in 1791 is quite unexepected in that part of the world. (Varanasi - Uttar Pradesh - India)

One of the doors of the main building of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi (Benaras). The architecture is an amazing blend of Western Gothic style with Sanskrit elements. Somehow it looks Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and it wouldn’t be awkward to see Harry Potter in one of the classrooms... (Varanasi - Uttar Pradesh - India)

A door at Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi (Benaras), an institution specialized in the study of Sanskrit and related fields. The main building was constructed in 1791 through the efforts of people of different religions and its architecture is an amazing blend of Western Gothic style with Sanskrit elements. Ancient and rare manuscripts are kept there making this place a wealth of knowledge. There is an old saying that goes, “Questioning is the door of knowledge”... (Varanasi - Uttar Pradesh - India)

This door was slightly opened in a narrow street of the oldest part of Varanasi (Benaras) at a few meters from the Ganges. The bright colours of the patterns decorating the walls shows that a young couple lives there and that their wedding probably occured a few months earlier. (Varanasi - Uttar Pradesh - India)

This is a door at Ramakant Nagar in Varanasi (Benaras). (Varanasi - Uttar Pradesh - India)

One of the four painted doorways representing the seasons in Pritam Chowk (the Court of the Beloved) inside the City Palace of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. (Jaipur - Rajasthan - India)

A door is in one of the yards of the City Palace of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. (Jaipur - Rajasthan - India)

This is the door of a house which is nearby the Ganges in the oldest and timeless part of Varanasi (Benaras). (Varanasi - Uttar Pradesh - India)

At dawn, the opened door of a house in a gali leading to the Ganges when Benares was still sleeping, the door was probably opened for the milkman... It is also possible that it was a passage to wonders and marvels for the one who would dare entering inside... (Varanasi - Uttar Pradesh - India)

This is a door of Namgyal Tsemo Gompa, a Tibetan monastery built in the beginning of the 16th century in the Himalyan hills of Leh in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. (Leh - Jammu and Kashmir - India)

There is a part of Orchha in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh where a few white houses have doors in many refreshing shades of blue... (Orchha - Madhya Pradesh - India)

This is the door of a house in Orchha in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. (Orchha - Madhya Pradesh - India)

“Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat. My shoulder is against yours. you will not find me in the stupas, not in Indian shrine rooms, nor in synagogues, nor in cathedrals: not in masses, nor kirtans, not in legs winding around your own neck, nor in eating nothing but vegetables. When you really look for me, you will see me instantly — you will find me in the tiniest house of time. Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God? He is the breath inside the breath.” (Kabir - mystic poet and saint of India, 1440–1518) This picture was shot inside the Bara-Gumbad Mosque located in the Lodi Gardens in Delhi with architectural works of the 15th century which is extremely rich in arabesque stucco decoration and paintings consisting of floral and geometrical designs and quranic inscriptions, partaking both the Tughlaq and Mughal features. (New Felhi - India)

This illustration of Lord Ganesha was printed on a tile and fixed on the wall of a house in the oldest part of Varanasi (Benaras). Since a while several walls of the holy city are covered with paintings or tiles showing any image or symbol of the main religions and most often they are displayed all together. This is a simple trick in order to keep the walls clean as no-one there would dare making a "lack of respect" to any represention of God... (Varanasi - Uttar Pradesh - India)

This is a picture of a wall in New Delhi showing a graffiti with the silhouette of Nargis in the epic melodrama “Mother India” shot in 1957 representing India as a nation in the aftermath of independence. I changed a few colours in the background in order to celebrate the spirit of freedom for Independence Day... (New Delhi - India)