Sadhu from Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal

The Pashupatinath Temple at Kathmandu is akin to the ghat temples of Varanasi. Both have a unique charm, are extremely sacred Hindu temple spaces, have a holy river flowing next to them and are home to many ascetics, whom the world knows as sadhus. These sadhus have spent most of their lives here. They live a life devoid of any luxury or pleasure. The only pleasure they know is serving the lord. These Brahmins feed their hunger by begging for alms from the temple or from the devotees. Apart from their basic food, they live on nothing and focus on attaining nirvana, or at least that is their end goal.


If you happen to visit the Pashupatinath temple, do try and strike a conversation with these sadhus. They are extremely nice souls, will give you great insights into the religion, the history of the temple, the processes followed with respect to the Hindu cremations and if you are lucky, they will even show you their holy dance. And the best part for a photographer is that they make for great photography subjects with their ash smeared heads, vermilion, long beards and deep penance stare.