Photo of the Day: Sitting Sadhu | Wanderlust and Lipstick

In India, a sadhu is a man who chooses to renounce himself from society in order to follow a spiritual path that will allow him to eventually become free from the cycle of death and rebirth. This sadhu will have already achieved kama (enjoyment), artha (practical objectives) and dharma (duty). However, he must first achieve moksha (liberation) before being fully released from this cycle.

It’s a beautiful philosophy, really. To give up your worldly possessions, to rely on the goodness of others and to spend your time in deep contemplation: meditating, praying and practicing yoga.

This sadhu sat at the main ghat leading down to the Ganga River in Varanasi. He was happy to pose when I tossed a few rupees into his bowl. Not to be a cynic, but I can’t help but wonder what he did with all the money that he surely collected from the many tourists passing by.

(Pssst, don’t forget to check out all the other cool photos on DeliciousBaby’s Photo Friday!)

Travel Well,

Beth

Read my travel blog on at the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

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13 comments

Comments

On March 19th, 2009 at 6:36 pm, Peter Carey said:

And where does he get all the marigolds!

On March 19th, 2009 at 8:20 pm, Gennaro said:

That’s a classic image. I was in India this past summer and Varanasi was unreal. Sites and smells. Sadhus were interesting and so were the fake ones.

On March 20th, 2009 at 3:36 am, Jen@Heading North after Naptime said:

That is an absolutely beautiful picture. You do such a fantastic job of capturing the life of a city or village. I love to look through your photos.

On March 20th, 2009 at 3:44 am, jessiev said:

oh!! what colors!! gorgeous, beth!

On March 20th, 2009 at 4:48 am, Lauren said:

This is just beautiful. I learn so much from your photos and story captions. Really. Thank you!

On March 20th, 2009 at 6:48 am, DeliciousBaby said:

Absolutely beautiful.

On March 20th, 2009 at 8:52 am, Lorraine Akemann said:

Stunning colors and image. This kind of photograph transports you right to the scene. Thank you for sharing this.

On March 20th, 2009 at 10:18 am, Linda said:

Thanks for sharing this photo and story.

On March 20th, 2009 at 6:30 pm, Nik said:

Very interesting photo Beth. Wonder about the colors and the robes.. are all ‘sadhus’ dressed like that? Or are they free to mix n match whatever they can scrape from their surroundings?

I think I see a gold-ish outer layer that can either be.. cheap, junk, gold-colored plastic waste,.. or gold-layered, well-crafted uniform given to all ‘sadhus’.. ha!

10.

On March 20th, 2009 at 6:51 pm, globalgal said:

I had the same question as Nik – are all sadhus dressed like this? I love the colors.
Not the kind of thing I think of when I think of an ascetic!

11.

On March 21st, 2009 at 4:41 am, Carolina said:

Those are great colors, was it around sunset time? Because the lighting seems to compliment his clothing so well.

12.

On March 21st, 2009 at 5:23 am, Dominique said:

Definitely drawn to the gorgeous colors (I love yellows/oranges/reds). Such a contrast to the battered background.
I do love logging on and seeing your exotic images

13.

On March 26th, 2009 at 3:16 am, Beth said:

@ Gennaro – How do you tell a fake sadhu from a real one

@ Nik – I think that most sadhus wear something in the orange palette but they have some flexibility as they are all dressed differently.

@ Caroline – I don’t recall the time of day, probably early to late morning.