Nostalgia for Eternity

A Baul — member of a religion that worships the human being — traveling down a river in Bangladesh.Pilgrims arriving at a Sufi shrine in Rajasthan after walking more than 300 miles. Hijras, sacred female men, during their ritual wedding with a Hindu god in Tamil Nadu.Hindu pilgrims in Kerala commence their pilgrimage by first requesting permission to proceed from a Muslim saint.In the Kashmir Himalaya Hindus travel for three days to reach a sacred cave.Sidis, Indians of African descent, celebrating the death anniversary of an ancestor saint.People pray in the holy Ganges River at Haridwar.Sadhus, Hindu ascetics, get ready to proceed to a ritual bath in the sacred waters of the Ganges near Allahabad.Pilgrims in the jungles of the Western Ghat Mountains, walking to the forest shrine of the Hindu god Ayyappa.A Sufi dances in ecstasy in Ajmer.A man prays to the goddess Kali in Calcutta.Pilgrims in Allahabad at the Kumbh Mela, a religious gathering at the confluence of three sacred rivers.A Sufi ascetic, called a fakir, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.Hindu ascetics walk to a pilgrimage site in the Indian Himalaya.People possessed by the Mother Goddess at a rite in Kerala.Sikh pilgrims in Amritsar at the Golden Temple, the Sikhs' holiest site.A monk at a temple in Kushinagar, the place where the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, is said to have died.Sadhus, Hindu ascetics, before a religious procession in Haridwar.Sidis, Indians of African descent, celebrate the death anniversary of an ancestor saint in Ahmedabad.A Thai monk in Sravasti pays respects at a sacred banyan tree, a symbol of Buddhism.Hindus worship the god Shiva in his manifestation as fire on holy Arunachala Mountain in Tiruvannamalai.A Buddhist monk in Ladakh performs a sacred dance.Pilgrims in a temple in Assam singing as an offering to the Mother Goddess.A Hindu ascetic rests in a tea shop during a pilgrimage in the Himalaya.New inductees into a Hindu order of ascetics undergoing an initiation ritual in Allahabad.A man in Kerala possessed by a god, known as a Theyyam.A Sufi summons pilgrims to begin walking at the start of a pilgrimage from Delhi to Ajmer.A Vaishnavite monk prepares to perform in a sacred drama in a monastery on the island of Majuli.Pilgrims rest under a sacred banyan tree in Kerala.A Sufi Pilgrim and his parrot walking to a shrine in Rajasthan.Bauls — who have no holy book, temples or priests — worship the human being and convey their philosophy through poetry and song.People make offerings to Krishna in a temple in Assam.A man massages his companion's feet toward the end of a 300 mile Sufi pilgrimage lasting two weeks.A pilgrim greets the sunrise at the Golden Temple, the most sacred site of India's Sikhs.A woman and a priest perform a Tantric ritual in West Bengal.Vaishnavite priests perform a sacred dance in a monastery temple on the island of Majuli in Assam.A Sufi ascetic, known as a fakir.An oracle possessed by the Mother Goddess dances during a ritual in Kerala.Sufi pilgrims in Rajasthan resting under a tree while monkeys play nearby.After Durga Puja, a Bengali festival celebrating the Mother Goddess, people prepare to immerse an idol in a river, the goddess having already vacated it.A Bangladeshi Baul get dressed before singing. For Bauls music and song constitute a form of meditation and prayer.A Sikh boy in the Punjab kisses his horse.