Painted Faces of Hindu Monks and Priests
Hindus wear markings on their forehead for many purposes. Some markings denote the sect they belong to, others tell if a woman is married or not, and some have deeper metaphysical reasons. Hindu…
The Blog — 25 posts
Sadhus
Every teaching, story, and reflection filed under Sadhus.
Parade of sadhus at the Kumbh Mela Festival
One of the most amazing things to witness at the Kumbh Mela festival is the parade of sadhus (monks). The parade takes place on the main bathing just before the auspicious time for the dip in the…
Monk with really long hair
Ok, I admit I could have come up with a more creative blog post title but at least it gets straight to the point.
Ganga Aarti at the Kumbh Mela Festival (Part 2)
We continue with our series of photographs highlighting the Ganga Aarti ceremony that takes place at the Kumbha Mela festival in India.
Ganga Aarti at the Kumbh Mela Festival (Part 1)
Part of the Kumbha Mela festival is the evening Ganga Aarti celebration down by the banks of the holy Ganges river. Aarti is a Hindu ritual wear an oil lamp or lamps are lit and then waved…
Collection of Kumbha Mela Photos by Anna Kastner
The grand 2013 Kumbha Mela festival is only a little over 7 months away. Quite a few people have signed up for our spiritual adventure to this festival and across north India and we hope you will too.
Sadhus at the Kumbh Mela
Here's the final photo in our 14 day series of images of Sadhus. The biggest gathering of sadhus takes place every 3 years at the Kumbha Mela festival. It comes around again next year but time a…
Day 12 of our Sadhu Image Series
Well, we are coming close to the end of our 14 day series of images of some of Hinduism's renunciates that I have photographed over the years. Sadhus are particularly photogenic I must say and the…
Day 13 of our Sadhu Image Series
The markings on a Hindu's forehead quite often shares what sects he belongs to. There are four primary sects within Hinduism namely Saivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism and Smartism. The markings on this…
Monks embracing technology
For Day 11 of our series of images on sadhus I bring you a photo I took about 3 years back at the Kumbha Mela festival in Haridwar of a sadhu. I was focused on a photographing a parade when I noticed…
Parade of Sadhus at the Kumbha Mela
One of the visually striking things at the Kumbha Mela is the parades that take place mainly on the main bathing day during the festival. Here a sadhu dances jubilantly waving a long sword as he…
Gallery of Sadhus, Kumbha Mela (Day 8)
Certain sects of monastics within Hinduism, most notably the naga sadhus, often cover their entire body with ash. Ash symbolizes the transient nature of life and things. The application of ash on…
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