a forest lost

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited

INDIA | Monday, 8 July 2013 | Views [703] | View Larger Image

in the scorching heat of the 40˚ sun, this Vedic astrologer returns to his dwelling to recite mantras and read the vedic scriptures for the 6 hours following his daily cleanse. He, and many other like him in this 32kmsq tent city, will do this every day for the entire 55 days of the Maha Kumbh

Karmic cycle.
when devotees perform their rituals, they often present an offering of coins to the river. Young street urchins like this one then fish for these coins using a magnet array. This lad was likely new to it, he only had a single small magnet his string, and was timid, almost ashamed. Others were confident and with defiance in their eyes, used huge magnet arrays, up to a meter long to harvest coins from the shallows.
it was an incredible insight to observe the reactions they received; while some accepted them as part of the cycle, perhaps feeling in-turn, through their devotion the gods are providing money for these children. Some showed distain, and it seemed they felt they were undermining their ritual by stealing the coins they'd offered

< previous

5 of 5

a forest lost

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited

Share

Photo Galleries

Where I've been

My trip journals