Pilgrimage: The Faces of Kumbh Mela

I encountered Damaru Baba in a make-do tent simply after sundown, on the financial institution of the Ganges. He invited me in for chai tea, however was a person of few phrases and most popular to take a seat collectively in silence, as he slowly moved his prayer beads between his fingers. Damaru would spend his mornings and evenings right here in deep meditation, away from the crowds of Kumbh Mela.

“In February of 2025, I launched into a photographic pilgrimage of my very own – to doc the faces and spirit of Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest gathering of individuals. Occurring as soon as each 12 years, over 600 million pilgrims descend upon the Ganges for ritual bathing, prayer, and devotion. India’s holy males or ‘sadhus’ are drawn to the religious significance of this competition. Dedicated to their faith, they resign worldly possessions and attachment.

“The lads are revered by Hindus as representatives of the gods. It was these sadhus that drew my consideration. Over two weeks, I explored the again streets of Varanasi in India to {photograph} these sadhus. I wished to isolate the people from the chaos of Kumbh Mela and their frenzied environments, so I usually opted to arrange a makeshift
studio on location and look ahead to passersby who caught my consideration. I used one strobe, shot by means of an octabox, and normally positioned my topics in opposition to studio-like backdrops.

Sai Baba, photographed at Assi Ghat, Varanasi. Sai Baba wears the normal orange robes, chosen initially primarily due to the dye accessible on the time, however now meant to symbolise simplicity and detachment of materialism. He wears a cranium necklace to assist confront mortality as babas search to transcend social norms and the phantasm of dualities like life and demise.

“The Naga sadhus, fierce and historic in look, had been finest photographed at daybreak, the place they’d emerge on the banks of Ganges to smear their bare fashions with ash and chant mantras. Different sadhus, wrapped within the vivid safford-coloured robes, had been usually discovered meditating and reciting prayer underneath the shade of temples.

On the break of daybreak, I encountered Naga Baba as he carried out his morning ritual on the banks of the Ganges.
After bathing within the river, he would collect ash from the remnants of final night time’s fireplace to cowl the whole lot of his physique. He moved with deliberate, meditative slowness. Chatting with him, I discovered that ash symbolised each demise and transcendence, a reminder that the bodily physique is impermanent.

“Photographing them was not merely an act of portraiture however an train in respect, persistence, and cultural understanding. In lots of instances, a respectful nod or a whispered “Namaste” was sufficient to open the house between us for a portrait. At different instances, merely sitting collectively with out the digicam, sharing tea or silence, proved to be crucial prelude to any picture.”