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  • A Hindu priest pours an offering of ghee onto a fire at the Shiva Temple, which is built into the Kid's Kemp Shopping Mall on Old Airport Road in Bangalore, India. (From the book What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets.) The 65-foot plaster statue of Lord Shiva sits in a lotus position before an amusement park-style Himalayan mountain-scape built of chicken wire and cement. This free popular attraction at the Kids Kemp shopping mall draws nearly 500,000 devotees on festival days.
    IND_081207_173_xxw.jpg
  • The clay Kumbha (water pot) has a special significance in the Hindu cremation ritual. It is blessed in the early stages of the ritual and then, most often during the series of rituals designed to ensure the proper path in death for a loved one, the Kumbha is carried by a mourner three times around the burning body then dropped (and it breaks).
    IND_040417_213_x.jpg
  • Near Vientiane, Laos. Buddha Park sculpture garden full of HIndu and Buddhist statues made of concrete by Puang Pu, a shamanist priest in the 1950's.
    LAO_110313_131_x.jpg
  • Near Vientiane, Laos. Buddha Park sculpture garden full of HIndu and Buddhist statues made of concrete by Puang Pu, a shamanist priest in the 1950's.
    LAO_110313_080_x.jpg
  • Near Vientiane, Laos. Buddha Park sculpture garden full of HIndu and Buddhist statues made of concrete by Puang Pu, a shamanist priest in the 1950's.
    LAO_110313_038_x.jpg
  • Ascetic Hindu Priest--called a Sadhu, cloaks himself in a funeral shroud used to adorn bodies before they are cremated (left behind by mourners) at the main burning ghat in Varanasi.
    IND_040416_447_x.jpg
  • IND_040417_239_x<br />
Peter Menzel photographing at Manikarnika Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi India. The Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one’s body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore—a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death. Not every Hindu can be cremated here, because of transportation costs and logistical considerations. Sometimes a body is burned in one location and the ashes brought to Varanasi. There are other rivers in India, such as the Shipra which flows through the sacred city of Ujjain, that are considered sacred as well, but none holds the importance of the Ganges. Sometimes a small dummy representing the person will be burned at Jalasi.<br />
Only male family members are present and tend to the bodies at the cremation site as no show of emotion is allowed and also, they don’t want any of them jumping onto the fire, says one manager at the ghat. The body is carried to the water’s edge for a last dip, and then the main mourner prepares for his role in the ritual burning.<br />
The main mourner—usually the eldest son or closest male family member’s hair and facial hair is shorn, and his nails are cut. He wears a simple dhoti (traditional Indian male’s wraparound clothing). The chief mourner follows a prescribed ritual, which involves circling the body and showering it with ghee (clarified butter) and incense—like sandalwood—again often purchased from one of the local funereal accessories vendors. It takes about three hours for an average sized body to burn completely. If a family is poor and doesn’t have enough money to buy the right amount of wood to burn the body, then wood left over from other fires might be used. It takes about 350 kilos of wood to burn a body completely.<br />
Afterward, the workers dump ashes from the burned pyres and douse
    IND_040417_239_x.jpg
  • Near Vientiane, Laos. Buddha Park sculpture garden full of HIndu and Buddhist statues made of concrete by Puang Pu, a shamanist priest in the 1950's.
    LAO_110313_123_x.jpg
  • Near Vientiane, Laos. Buddha Park sculpture garden full of HIndu and Buddhist statues made of concrete by Puang Pu, a shamanist priest in the 1950's.
    LAO_110313_110_x.jpg
  • Near Vientiane, Laos. Buddha Park sculpture garden full of HIndu and Buddhist statues made of concrete by Puang Pu, a shamanist priest in the 1950's.
    LAO_110313_098_x.jpg
  • Near Vientiane, Laos. Buddha Park sculpture garden full of HIndu and Buddhist statues made of concrete by Puang Pu, a shamanist priest in the 1950's.
    LAO_110313_066_x.jpg
  • Near Vientiane, Laos. Buddha Park sculpture garden full of HIndu and Buddhist statues made of concrete by Puang Pu, a shamanist priest in the 1950's.
    LAO_110313_057_x.jpg
  • Near Vientiane, Laos. Buddha Park sculpture garden full of HIndu and Buddhist statues made of concrete by Puang Pu, a shamanist priest in the 1950's.
    LAO_110313_013_x.jpg
  • Near Vientiane, Laos. Buddha Park sculpture garden full of HIndu and Buddhist statues made of concrete by Puang Pu, a shamanist priest in the 1950's.
    LAO_110313_004_x.jpg
  • Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat, Varanasi, India. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore?a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death. Not every Hindu can be cremated here, because of transportation costs and logistical considerations. Sometimes a body is burned in one location and the ashes brought to Varanasi.
    IND_040413_293_x.jpg
  • Male family members perform the rituals of Hindu cremation at the Harishchandra Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. Other fires burn bodies that have already had their cremation ritual. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River. An electric crematorium opened at the site in 1986 but had technical problems and never caught on. The method of cremation by wood fire is steeped in tradition and still favored.
    IND_040412_757_x.jpg
  • Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore, a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death. Not every Hindu can be cremated here, because of transportation costs and logistical considerations.
    IND_040412_721_x.jpg
  • Male family members perform the rituals of Hindu cremation at the Harishchandra Ghat. Other fires burn bodies that have already had their cremation ritual.
    IND_040412_336_x.jpg
  • Sweet, fried boondi, a spiced chickpea flour confection, is prepared for pilgrims in a camp at an ashram during the Kumbh Mela festival in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India. (From the book What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets.) Every camp has its own large/small kitchen where food is prepared for people residing in that particular camp as well as outsiders who would walk in and out for lunch/dinner. Boondi can be a savory preparation or even sweet. A thin consistency dough is prepared using gram flour, water and spices. This boondi can be made sweet by putting in sugar syrup (prepared separately) and soaked in the syrup. Cardamom, dry fruits may be added in the syrup for flavor. The Kumbh Mela festival is a sacred Hindu pilgrimage held 4 times every 12 years, cycling between the cities of Allahabad, Nasik, Ujjain and Haridwar.  Participants of the Mela gather to cleanse themselves spiritually by bathing in the waters of India's sacred rivers.  Kumbh Mela is one of the largest religious festivals on earth, attracting millions from all over India and the world.  Past Melas have attracted up to 70 million visitors.
    IND_040423_017_xx_xw.jpg
  • Near Vientiane, Laos. Buddha Park sculpture garden full of HIndu and Buddhist statues made of concrete by Puang Pu, a shamanist priest in the 1950's.
    LAO_110313_027_x.jpg
  • Madru, who is nicknamed Dru is a Brahmin priest who spends most of his time hanging out at the Varanasi burning ghats explaining the ritual aspects of the cremation site to tourists and journalists alike. Sometimes he is given cash presents in exchange for the information. When he or another Brahmin priest assists at a cremation, he works as a guide as well for the chief mourner, who must follow a prescribed ritual to ensure the proper send off for the loved one. Brahmins are given gifts by the mourning family throughout the ritual process, which begins at home when a Hindu dies and continues for many months and then yearly. 
    IND_040410_353_x.jpg
  • An elderly widow living out her last days near the Manikarnika Ghat, in Varansi, India..Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore?a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death. Not every Hindu can be cremated here, because of transportation costs and logistical considerations.
    IND_040410_311_x.jpg
  • Near Vientiane, Laos. Buddha Park sculpture garden full of HIndu and Buddhist statues made of concrete by Puang Pu, a shamanist priest in the 1950's.
    LAO_110313_118_x.jpg
  • Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat in the city of Varanasi, India. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore?a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death. Not every Hindu can be cremated here, because of transportation costs and logistical considerations. Sometimes a body is burned in one location and the ashes brought to Varanasi. A ghat is a stairway in India leading down to a landing on the water.
    IND_040413_293_xw.jpg
  • Ritual waters from the Ganges River are poured onto the face of the body of Savitridevi Mishra, who lived near the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat. Wrapped in a shroud of yellow and gold and decorated with marigold garlands, the woman will be burned upon a funeral pyre at the cremation grounds in a rite officiated by the eldest living male in her family.
    IND_040417_349_x.jpg
  • An exhausted mourner sits above the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat and lets ashes rain down on him. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore, a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death.
    IND_040417_173_x.jpg
  • A woman named Savitridevi Mishra died at 4 o'clock this morning and lies on the paving stones in the center of a square ringed by apartments near Manikarnika Ghat and the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat. A local photographer has come to take a commemorative photograph (at left).
    IND_040416_510_x.jpg
  • Pilgrims take their turn to bath in the Shipra River during the Kumbh Mela festival, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India. (From the book What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets.)
    IND_040419_440_xxw.jpg
  • Durga Tiwari, 35, is comforted by a family member as her mother, Savitridevi Mishra, is taken to the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat. This after the body has been washed, draped in a red and yellow shroud and marigold garlands and photographed for a family remembrance.
    IND_040417_329_x.jpg
  • Peter Menzel photographing at Manikarnika Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi India. The Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat.
    IND_040417_245_x.jpg
  • Peter Menzel photographing at Manikarnika Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi India. The Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat.
    IND_040417_239_x.jpg
  • Durga Tiwari, 35, attends to her dead mother, Savitridevi Mishra, just before she is taken to the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat.
    IND_040416_549_x.jpg
  • Durga Tiwari, 35, is comforted by a family member as her mother, Savitridevi Mishra, is taken to the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat.
    IND_040416_533_x.jpg
  • A relative splashes Ganges River water onto the face of Savitridevi Mishra at the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat.
    IND_040416_523_x.jpg
  • Durga Tiwari, 35, is comforted by a family member as her mother, Savitridevi Mishra, is taken to the cremation grounds of Jalasi Ghat. This after the body has been washed, draped in a red and yellow shroud and marigold garlands and photographed for a family remembrance.
    IND_040416_515_x.jpg
  • Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat, Varanasi, India. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore, a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death.
    IND_040413_292_x.jpg
  • Bodies arrive day and night from far and near to be cremated at Jalasi Ghat, the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore, a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death.
    IND_040412_720_x.jpg
  • The "eternal fire" at the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat. All funeral pyres are lighted from embers from this fire which burns above the ghat. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore,  place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death.
    IND_040412_403_x.jpg
  • In the narrow streets leading down to the Manikarnika Ghat, in Varanasi, India, many elderly people lounge about, whiling away their time.
    IND_040410_150_x.jpg
  • Mourners comfort each other at the cremation grounds at Manikarnika Ghat. One hundred or more times a day male family members carry a loved one's body through the narrow streets on a bamboo litter to the Ganges River shore, a place of pilgrimage for Hindus during life, and at death.
    IND_040417_224_x.jpg
  • An elderly man lives on the street near the Manikarnika Ghat, in Varanasi, India.
    IND_040412_317_x.jpg
  • Vientiane, Laos. Buddhist temple along Setthahirath Road.
    LAO_110312_011_x.jpg
  • Vientiane, Laos. New statue of Chao Anouvong, the last king of the Vientiane monarchy.
    LAO_110311_542_x.jpg
  • A young girl in a rowboad sells floating votive candles to mourners and also tourists near the Dashashwamedh Ghat, on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India.
    IND_040414_280_x.jpg
  • Gopal Jee Singh, 65, from Bihar, holds a butter lamp above his dead wife Subhadra Singh, 60 for a local photographer who takes photographs at the burning ghats and sells prints to families that want a keepsake. Subhadra died last night at 8 p.m. and he and his sons brought her here to Varanasi for the funeral rite, arriving at 3 a.m..Mr. Singh says that his wife didn't want to be cremated and so he and their sons brought her here to the Ganges for a different funeral ritual then most others have.
    IND_040412_748_x.jpg
  • The eldest son, Brajesh Kumar Singh, accompanies the body of his mother, Subhadra Singh, 60, to the center of the Ganges River for a water burial as her husband Gopal Jee Singh, 65, stands on the shore at Jalasi ghat and watches. The body is weighed down with a rock and will be released into the water, as was Subhadra's wish, rather than being cremated.
    IND_040412_708_x.jpg
  • A rowboat passes, distorted by the heat waves rising from a body burning at the Harishchandra cremation grounds on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. Just up river a man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040412_361_x.jpg
  • Vientiane, Laos. Buddhist temple along Setthahirath Road.
    LAO_110312_008_x.jpg
  • Vientiane, Laos. That Dam, the Black Stupa, one of the oldest monuments, 15th C, in the capital city of Vientiane.
    LAO_110311_564_x.jpg
  • Vientiane, Laos. New statue of Chao Anouvong, the last king of the Vientiane monarchy.
    LAO_110311_533_x.jpg
  • Dashashwamedh Ghat is the most visited ghat of Varanasi by religious pilgrims, Dashashwamedh ghat is the most beautiful ghat in city. The ghat is close to the famous 'Vishwanath Temple' and is therefore of high religious importance. The most enticing part is the evening 'Puja' performed by the group of priests. Also called as 'Fire Puja', the ceremony is a dedication to River Ganges, Sun, Lord Shiva, Fire and the whole universe. The Ghats finds mention in the old religious texts, as it is said that lord Brahma created the ghats to welcome lord Shiva.  Early morning.  Varanasi, India..
    IND_040416_472_x.jpg
  • A young Nepalese boy studying sanskrit at an ashram in Varanasi was swimming with friends in the Ganges River and drowned.
    IND_040415_340_x.jpg
  • This is the last letter written by a young Nepalese boy studying sanskrit at an ashram in Varanasi who was swimming with friends in the Ganges River and drowned.
    IND_040415_310_x.jpg
  • These bells adorn the top of a shrine overlooking the Ganges river at the Harishchandra Ghat, Varanasi, India. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040415_138_x.jpg
  • A man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre at the Harishchandra cremation grounds. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040415_078_x.jpg
  • A man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre at the Harishchandra cremation grounds. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040415_058_x.jpg
  • A young girl in a rowboad sells floating votive candles to mourners and also tourists near the Dashashwamedh Ghat, on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India.
    IND_040414_282_x.jpg
  • A young girl in a rowboad sells floating votive candles to mourners and also tourists near the Dashashwamedh Ghat, on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India.
    IND_040414_281_x.jpg
  • A young Nepalese boy studying sanskrit at an ashram in Varanasi was swimming with friends in the Ganges River and drowned. Here his friend (to the right of the man with the beard) who was swimming with him tells the authorities how he drowned right after the boy disappeared beneath the murky waters of the Ganges. His teacher called his parents in Kathmandu but did not tell the reason why. When his father, Bhim Prasad Bastola, arrived in Varanasi on a bus, he was told of the death of his 15-year-old son Chudamani Bastola and the cremation ceremony was held shortly thereafter.
    IND_040413_313_x.jpg
  • Death is part of the fabric of life for Hindus and like much of Indian society, takes place in open view. In the early morning men and women wash clothes in the river, slapping dhoti, saris, and other pieces of clothing against rocks and cement slabs as others tend to the bodies burning on the shore at Harishchandra Ghat.
    IND_040413_308_x.jpg
  • Madru Choudhary, is the chief custodian of the Harishchandra ghat in Varanasi, India. He was 45 at the time the photo was taken and his family has been "in the business" for generations. Harishchandra is the smaller of the two ghats used for the cremation of thousands of Hindus each year. They are of the Dom caste which historically has included traders, weavers, scavengers, and musicians.  (His first name can also be spelled Matru. His last name is also spelled Chaudary, or Chaudhery).Varanasi, India.
    IND_040413_303_x.jpg
  • Death is part of the fabric of life for Hindus and like much of Indian society, takes place in open view. In the early morning men and women wash clothes in the river, slapping dhoti, saris, and other pieces of clothing against rocks and cement slabs as others tend to the bodies burning on the shore at Harishchandra Ghat. A man uses a long bamboo pole that once was part of the litter fashioned to carry a body to the cremation grounds at Harishchandra Ghat to flip the unburned legs and arms back into the fire. He uses the pole to smash the skulls open as well so that it burns more easily. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040413_007_x.jpg
  • A lone goat at the Harishchandra Ghat eats marigold garlands that once adorned the bodies dipped into the Ganges River for final ritual baths before cremation in Varansi, India. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040412_999_x.jpg
  • A young girl picks her way along the shoreline as a body burns at the Harishchandra cremation grounds. Just up river a man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040412_411_x.jpg
  • A rowboat passes, distorted by the heat waves rising from a body burning at the Harishchandra cremation grounds on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. Just up river a man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040412_369_x.jpg
  • Along the shoreline a body burns at the Harishchandra cremation grounds on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. Just up river a man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
    IND_040412_359_x.jpg
  • The main mourner, usually the eldest son or closest male family member, prepares for cremation rituals by getting his head and face shaved. There are a prescribed set of rituals for the entire process that started at the family's home with the washing of the body and wrapping for the travel to the burning ghats. The main mourner's hair and facial hair is shorn, (cost 15 rupees, by one of the many barbers near the ghats) and his nails are cut.
    IND_040412_328_x.jpg
  • Gopal Jee Singh, 65, from Bihar, holds a butter lamp above his dead wife Subhadra Singh, 60 for a local photographer who takes photographs at the burning ghats and sells prints to families that want a keepsake. Subhadra died last night at 8 p.m. and he and his sons brought her here to Varanasi for the funeral rite, arriving at 3 a.m.
    IND_040412_304_x.jpg
  • Brilliant spectacles of light from handheld towers of candles, held by priests and other Hindis during religious rites (pujas). Colorful and popular Dasasvamedha Ghat gets a lot of attention from religious pilgrims, locals, and tourists alike and is one of the busiest bathing ghats in the city of Varanasi.
    IND_040411_707_x.jpg
  • Faith D'Aluisio and Neha Diddee wait for an official at the Varanasi, India, police station to give them the official document permitting photography of cremation on the city's burning ghats on the Ganges River. Normally it is forbidden to photograph cremation ceremonies at The Mother Ganges, as the Hindis who consider its waters sacred call it. Varanasi, India.
    IND_040410_production001_x.jpg
  • A body wrapped in bright orange funeral cloth purchased from one of the many funeral vendors that line the narrow streets above Manikarnika Ghat is carried to the edge of the Ganges River for cremation as another body is being readied for burning. Surrounded by boats loaded with wood used for burning the bodies, workers stack the wood that a family has purchased from the ghat's managers for the cremation ritual.
    IND_040410_366_x.jpg
  • Boats on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India, with the Dasasvamedha Ghat in the background. Colorful and popular Dasasvamedha Ghat gets a lot of attention from religious pilgrims, locals, and tourists alike and is one of the busiest bathing ghats in the city of Varanasi.
    IND_040410_196_x.jpg
  • The main mourner, usually the eldest son or closest male family member, prepares for cremation rituals by getting his head and face shaved. There are a prescribed set of rituals for the entire process that started at the family's home with the washing of the body and wrapping for the travel to the burning ghats. The main mourner's hair and facial hair is shorn, (cost 15 rupees, by one of the many barbers near the ghats) and his nails are cut. Family members at home also are shaved and cut.
    IND_040410_135_x.jpg
  • Firewood for cremation. A worker carries a piece of wood from one of the wood laden boats moored at the shore up to the stockpile area. The wood is chopped into smaller pieces and, when paid for by a family, is used to build funeral pyres at Jalasi Ghat (at Manikarnika Ghat) in Varanasi, India.
    IND_040410_097_x.jpg
  • A home shrine in the of house Shashi Kanth, next to their TV. Shashi Kanth is a call center worker who works at an AOL call center in Bangalore, India.  (Shashi Kanth is featured in the book What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets.)
    IND_081208_131_xw.jpg
  • Visitors wait for their turn to enter the Shiva Temple, which is built into the Kid's Kemp Shopping Mall on Old Airport Road in Bangalore, India. (From the book What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets.) The 65-foot plaster statue of Lord Shiva sits in a lotus position before an amusement park-style Himalayan mountain-scape built of chicken wire and cement. This free popular attraction at the Kids Kemp shopping mall draws nearly 500,000 devotees on festival days.
    IND_081207_161_xw.jpg
  • Millie Mitra, a vegan, who has a thirst for alternative medicine and homeopathic healing, drinks a glass of urine at her home in Benson Town, Bangalore, India. (Millie Mitra is featured in the book What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets.)  She has practiced Shivambu (sometimes spelled Sivambu), which is the drinking of one's own first morning urine (200 cc in her practice) as a curative and preventative measure, for over 15 years. Millie applies urine to her skin as well, for the same reasons. Her husband Abhik has tried Shivambu and she helped her children to practice it when they were young, but currently only Millie practices urine therapy. MODEL RELEASED. .
    IND_081205_195_xw.jpg
  • The colorful and popular Dasasvamedha Ghat  in the city of Varanasi, India, gets a lot of attention from religious pilgrims, locals, and tourists alike and is one of the busiest bathing ghats in Varanasi. A ghat is a stairway in India leading down to a landing on the water.
    IND_040416_472_xw.jpg
  • Bells adorn the top of a shrine overlooking the Ganges river at the Harishchandra Ghat in Varanasi, India. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River. An electric crematorium opened at the site in 1986 but had technical problems and never caught on. The method of cremation by wood fire is steeped in tradition and still favored. Cremation practices here at Harishchandra are the same as those at the larger Jalasi Ghat, at Manikarnika Ghat. It is sometimes called Adi Manikarnika ("the original cremation ground"). Varanasi, India. A ghat is a stairway in India leading down to a landing on the water.
    IND_040415_138_xw.jpg
  • A young girl in a rowboad sells floating votive candles to mourners and tourists near the Dashashwamedh Ghat, on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. The most visited ghat of Varanasi by religious pilgrims, Dashashwamedh ghat is the most beautiful ghat in the city. The ghat is close to the famous 'Vishwanath Temple' and is therefore of high religious importance. The most enticing part is the evening 'Puja' performed by the group of priests. Also known as the 'Fire Puja', the ceremony is a dedication to River Ganges, Sun, Lord Shiva, Fire and the whole universe. The Ghats finds mention in the old religious texts, as it is said that lord Brahma created the ghats to welcome lord Shiva.
    IND_040414_281_xw.jpg
  • A young monkey clings to a stone sculpture at a temple in the monkey forest near Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.
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  • A potbellied man floats during an early morning swim in the river Ganga. Near the Dashashwamedh ghat. Colorful and popular Dasasvamedha Ghat gets a lot of attention from religious pilgrims, locals, and tourists alike and is one of the busiest bathing ghats in the city of Varanasi.
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  • The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
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  • A young Nepalese boy studying sanskrit at an ashram in Varanasi was swimming with friends in the Ganges River and drowned.
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  • People sleep near the piles of wood for cremation fires on the banks of the Ganges River near the Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) which is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi.
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  • Male family members carry a body to the edge of the Ganges River for a final ritual dip before cremation at the Harishchandra Ghat in Varansi, India. Other fires burn bodies that have already had their cremation ritual.
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  • A worker carries a piece of wood from one of the wood laden boats moored at the banks of the Ganges River. The wood is chopped into smaller pieces and, when paid for by a family, is used to build funeral pyres at Jalasi Ghat (at Manikarnika Ghat) in Varanasi, India.
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  • A passing cow eats discarded marigold garlands along the shoreline as a body burns at the Harishchandra cremation grounds. Just up river a man dries the clothes he just washed in the Ganges in the heat of a burning funeral pyre. The Harishchandra Ghat (also known as the Harish Chandra Ghat) is the smaller and more ancient of the two primary cremation grounds in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River.
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  • A young girl in a rowboad sells floating votive candles to mourners and tourists near the Dashashwamedh Ghat, on the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. The most visited ghat of Varanasi by religious pilgrims, Dashashwamedh ghat is the most beautiful ghat in the city. The ghat is close to the famous 'Vishwanath Temple' and is therefore of high religious importance. The most enticing part is the evening 'Puja' performed by the group of priests. Also known as the 'Fire Puja', the ceremony is a dedication to River Ganges, Sun, Lord Shiva, Fire and the whole universe. The Ghats finds mention in the old religious texts, as it is said that lord Brahma created the ghats to welcome lord Shiva.
    IND_040414_282_xw.jpg
  • Hindu holy men prepare tea at the Kumbh Mela festival in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India. The Kumbh Mela festival is a sacred Hindu pilgrimage held 4 times every 12 years, cycling between the cities of Allahabad, Nasik, Ujjain and Hardiwar.  Participants of the Mela gather to cleanse themselves spiritually by bathing in the waters of India's sacred rivers. During the festival hundreds of ashrams set up free cafeterias and dusty, sprawling camps that stretch for miles. Thousands of Hindu pilgrims file past the different groups on the way to and from the river and their own dusty camps. (Supporting image from the project Hungry Planet: What the World Eats.).
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  • Silver door of the Hindu Rat Temple in Deshnoke, Rajasthan, India. This ornate Hindu temple was constructed by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata. .
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  • Pre-dawn worshipers with flaming camel dung at the Hindu Rat Temple in Deshnoke, Rajasthan, India. This ornate Hindu temple was constructed by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata..
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  • Swarming rats feeding and drinking water at the Hindu Rat Temple in Deshnoke, Rajasthan, India. This ornate Hindu temple was constructed by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata..
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  • Hindu Rat Temple in Deshnoke, Rajasthan, India. This ornate Hindu temple was constructed by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata.
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  • A painted pachyderm pauses for a snack of discarded cauliflower leaves and receives blessings from an admirer during the Kumbh Mela festival, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India. Elephants, like cows and other animals, are shown respect throughout India, and Hindu deities are often represented in their form. (From the book What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets.) The Kumbh Mela festival is a sacred Hindu pilgrimage held 4 times every 12 years, cycling between the cities of Allahabad, Nasik, Ujjain and Haridwar.  Participants of the Mela gather to cleanse themselves spiritually by bathing in the waters of India's sacred rivers.  Kumbh Mela is one of the largest religious festivals on earth, attracting millions from all over India and the world.  Past Melas have attracted up to 70 million visitors.
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  • Sitarani Tyaagi, an ascetic Hindu priest, with his typical day's worth of food at an ashram in Ujjain, India. (From the book What I Eat; Around the World in 80  Diets.)  The caloric value of his typical day's worth of food in the month of April was 1000 kcals. He is 70 years of age; 5 feet, 6 inches tall; and 103 pounds. Sitarani Tyaagi is one of thousands of ascetic Hindu priests?called Sadhus?that walk the country of India and receive food from observant Hindus. Generally, he eats one meal per day and has water for the other two meals. He has a small pot that he carries with him for water. Offer him more food than a plateful, and he will kindly say, "no thanks."  MODEL RELEASED.
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  • Nagas (Hindu ascetics who are followers of Sadhus) congregate to bathe in the Shipra River during the Kumbh Mela festival, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India. The Kumbh Mela festival is a sacred Hindu pilgrimage held 4 times every 12 years, cycling between the cities of Allahabad, Nasik, Ujjain and Hardiwar.  Participants of the Mela gather to cleanse themselves spiritually by bathing in the waters of India's sacred rivers.  Kumbh Mela is one of the largest religious festivals on earth, attracting millions from all over India and the world.  Past Melas have attracted up to 70 million visitors.
    IND_040422_008_x.jpg
  • Teenage girl with braids and ring in her nose at Hindu Rat Temple in Deshnoke, Rajasthan, India. The ornate Hindu temple was constructed by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata.
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  • Priests holding two rats by the tails during a ceremony at the Hindu Rat Temple in Deshnoke, Rajasthan, India. This ornate Hindu temple was constructed by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata..
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  • Pre-dawn worshipers at the Hindu Rat Temple in Deshnoke, Rajasthan, India. This ornate Hindu temple was constructed by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata..
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Peter Menzel Photography

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