India

Aravan’s wedding is a semi-religious transgender event that takes place in Koovagam near the village of Villupuram in the Tamil month of Chitrai (April/May).

The festival takes place at the Koothandavar Temple dedicated to Aravan (Koothandavar). The participants marry the Lord Koothandavar, thus reenacting an ancient story of Lord Vishnu (Krishna) who married him after taking the form of a woman called Mohini. The next day, Koothandavar dies. Festival participants mourn Koothandavar’s death through ritualistic dances and by breaking their bangles.

The festival also serves as a platform to raise awareness for transgender issues in mainstream society.

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Sandhia from Madurai has a woman’s body but feels like a man. She wants to be called “Raja” only.

Raja is not being accepted for what he is. When being threatened by his neighbours, he and his mother had to run.

On foot. The good road ends just outside Lamayuru however. After that it’s dirt tracks and then donkey trails. Most rivers have to be crossed on horseback or on foot. Not a joke even if it hasn’t been raining for a while.

The locals are used to foreigners but you could hardly call this mass tourism. The tourists leave enough rupees to bolster farmers’ incomes by staying on their land and eating their food, but it doesn’t seem to be enough to change the traditional lifestyle in this part of the world.

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Kushti had its origin in Parthia (Persia) around 1000 BCE although there is a slightly different interpretation of it in India. Kushti wrestlers start at an early age to submit to a stringent life codex of physical exercise while developing body strength. They live off a high-calorie diet that is supposed to increase body mass. Wrestlers must renounce all worldly possessions to live only for their sport.

Kushti is linked to the monkey God Hanuman who represents strength and bravery, which is why every Akhara (school) has a shrine dedicated to him. Wrestlers pray to Hanuman regularly, for example before a match.

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Total overcrowding, orchestrated chaos, like people crawling over each other on an ant heap. Some are stoned on drugs, some are just lying in the streets motionless, some going about their daily work or shopping. Old Delhi is always full of life energy.

These pictures were taken near Chowri Chowk, around Jama Masjid and at the Chandni Chowk railway station in New Delhi.

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The Aasraa Trust tries to get children off the street and into education. Check their website here.

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The stereotypical idea of what many think India looks like – and it does, but only in Rajasthan.

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The social distance between rich and poor is stark in Kolkata, even for Indian standards. The wealthy enjoy a game of cricket amid the grand architecture of the colonial past while the poorest of the poor barely survive under bridges.

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Most visitors to Varanasi only have one goal – the waters of the river Ganges. The idea is to worship and cleanse sins by bathing. Taking a sip of the water is supposed to be part of the ritual, although you would need a cast iron stomach not go get sick given the near-sewage quality of it.

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