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Maha Kumbh Mela

The ancient Hindu festival Maha Kumbh Mela is the largest pilgrimage on Earth. It takes place at its largest scale every 144 years, and the last to-date was held in the northern Indian city of Allahabad from January 25, to March 10, 2013. It drew around 100 million pilgrims on 58 square kilometers, making it he largest single gathering of humanity of all times. Pilgrims traveled from all over India and beyond in order to bathe at the confluence of the Yamuna, Ganges and Saraswati rivers. Some of them walked for months to attend the event.

By making their portrait, I intended to show the tremendous variety, constant evolution and renewal of the Indian society. While all participants demonstrate a strong attachment to their customs and religious practices, gathering for a single purpose demonstrates they are increasingly parting from the caste heritage.

To account for this, I placed them on the same level of consideration and simply documented their names, age, profession, and hometown. Be they farmers, vendors, government and political men, civil servants, policemen, students, bankers, priests, or sadhus, they all share traditional Indian religious beliefs, and are looking ahead to the future.