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A man in a grey shirt and pink head cloth lies on his back on dusty ground, arms raised and fingers spread, apparently mid-ritual action. Beside him sits a steel bowl holding offerings. A figure in white dhoti with a yellow border and red sash walks past at left, carrying a long red-and-white pole. Behind a bamboo barrier, spectators stand watching, including people in white shirts and a woman in a colourful sari. A red and white banner is visible at upper right. A bundled stack of colourful sticks stands by the barrier. The scene is outdoors in bright sunlight.

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May 09th 20162016-05-09A photograph at a crowded outdoor Kumbh Mela camp of an ascetic performing a headstand on a leopard-print mat. His body is held upright with a rope tied around his waist, and his bare legs point straight up. Scattered dark ash and charcoal lumps lie on the sandy ground. Behind him, people in white dhotis and kurtas, a woman in a red-bordered white sari, and a woman in a brown dress move among tents with pink and yellow canopies and small flags.May 21 20162016-05-21 +1 copiesThree elderly sadhus and devotees sit on sandy ground at a Kumbha Mela camp, eating from steel tiffin tins. On the left, a man in a pink and white striped turban and white dhoti holds a steel container beside a wooden post. In the centre, a bearded sadhu with long grey hair, a red tilak on his forehead, a dark green jacket over white kurta and saffron-orange dhoti holds a small bowl. On the right, an elderly woman in a grey shawl and pink sari with gold bangles holds a bowl. Crowds of pilgrims in orange and multicoloured clothing stand behind them.2013-02-06February 02 20072007-02-02May 18 20122012-05-18 +1 copiesNight street performance: a performer lies on his back on a stone pavement while swinging his arms and legs around a bamboo frame, with lit fire torches sweeping through the air around him. Behind a bamboo barrier, a crowd of spectators in white and light clothing watches, and drummers play large drums, one with a glowing purple rim. Warm orange firelight dominates the scene.2016-12-23January 03 20122012-01-03May 21 20162016-05-21Night photograph at an outdoor stone-paved temple area. In the foreground a devotee lies prostrate on an orange cloth, hands pressed together in namaskar, wearing orange garments, a sandalwood-coloured bead necklace and a headband. Standing behind him, a group of men in white dhotis and orange shawls, some bare-chested with beaded malas, watch. Among them, a bare-chested man with a long hair crown-like headband and rudraksha beads stands with arms folded, and a man in an orange shawl stands in the rear. Onlookers in shirts, a checked shirt and a uniformed police officer stand at the edge of the scene near stone steps. A fabric-wrapped figure in orange is partly visible at the left edge.2012-05-21An outdoor ritual at a dirt-floored ground with a fire-walk path of hot embers. A barefoot man in saffron-orange robes and a long orange-beaded mala walks across the glowing ash-covered pit while a man in white dhoti and shirt with a long pole rakes the path beside him. Behind them, a crowd of devotees watches, many in white kurtas and dhotis, a woman in a pink sari, and a woman in a cream sari with gold border. A brass pot sits near a tree, and a drummer in a blue shirt plays a large drum at the lower right. A second saffron-clad man stands nearby in the background, and a man in white stretches an arm toward the walker.2008-12-31A photograph at a crowded outdoor Kumbh Mela camp, showing a nearly nude ascetic performing a headstand on a patterned brown and red mat on bare ground scattered with dark charred embers and ash. His legs rise straight up, with a rope cinched around his waist. Behind him, a dense crowd of onlookers in white dhotis, saffron and yellow shawls, a green salwar kameez and a rust-coloured head wrap stands near a pink and yellow canopy and yellow banners. The scene has a hazy, smoky atmosphere.