Being Holy Together, a photo from Bagmati, Central

Photographer's Note

In Kathmandu the principle Hindu temple is the Pashputinath. It contains hundreds of beautifully carved shrines to many, many gods. Most of these date from the 14th to 16th centuries. Often they are inhabited by Sadhus or Holy men. Quite what they do for toiletry arrangements, I am not sure, because there are no bathrooms around there. This seems to be an important intersection where several holy men meet up and talk about whatever holy men talk about. They also await donations from the visiting faithful. Their different dress signifies the different sub sects and the various gods that they worship.

Floydian, vincz, Dpbours, sabyasachi1212, ndb1958, axiotea, adores, Rev_Kat, oochappan has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Floydian (30970) 2007-06-28 10:36

Hi Kevin,
Real Holyman or just some beggars, it's sometimes hard to tell. But the guy on the right, see his watch, for me a good example of just a beggar ;-)
Whatever they are, i like it the way you set this up in a diagonal line with all these different colours....very nice.
Regards, Henk

mesutilgim (0) 2007-06-28 10:44

Hi Kevin,
Great capture, with wonderfull notes and very nice pov.
TFS and have a nice weekend
MESUT ILGIM

wolf38 (30) 2007-06-28 11:21

Hello kevin. Actually I do not like the beautiful postcard pictures of holy men. Your picture is however so interesting and worth seeing that I make an exception. I must say, me please the picture very well. Simply fantastically. In addition the informative humorous text. Very beautifully. Best regards, Wolfgang. Best regards, Wolfgang.

quetzal (3665) 2007-06-28 13:50

Hello Kevin,
Excellent production of very alive actors, equipped with surprising paintings. Fortunately that the note helps to understand the hidden meaning of the things. Very pretty shot.
Have a good evening
Jean-Louis

anesugur (18789) 2007-06-28 16:18

Hi Kevin,
Very well captured shot!
Colors and composition are beautiful.
Best regards. Uğur

Stepan (27210) 2007-06-28 16:47

They look so cool, so peaceful, so in another world !!! You composed them perfectly and the pos is excellent. Well done.
St廧hane

Greg1949 (9011) 2007-06-28 19:00

Kevin, what an interesting shot. The note really make it come alive with all the same questions as most of us would have. Very nicely captured.

Greg

Dpbours (222) 2007-06-28 22:11

Hi Kevin,

Hahaha, you got me thinking now about the toiletry arrangements as well. Like the comment of Henk as well. The line is quite often thin. In Angola I had a driver who had 6 different beliefs during the 3 years before. To get into a convent for shelter during the war, to get a food package of a certain NGO etc etc. He wasn't religious at all, but pretty happy to act that way if it would get him a buck during hard times.
In this case I'd also say that their faith is rather opportunistic :-).

Greet colours, like the diagonal line-up. Nice shot.

Greetings, Dennis

sabyasachi1212 (19779) 2007-06-28 23:42

Hi Kevin,
Interesting group of sadhus. I say interesting because if I am not too wrong, all these sadhus are actually Indian who are in Pasupatinath in search of divine enlightenment. Seems pretty modern though, with the watch and the shoulder bag.
With Greetings from India
Sabyasachi

vincz (19113) 2007-06-29 3:25

Hi Kevin,

Looks like the one on the right did not move since I was there in february ! I also recognize the two on the left. They all must be Pashupatinath residents! I like very much your picture with all of them sitted on this diagonal. Holy men, holy businessmen it's not clear, many of them ask for money for pictures. A mix as in any society. I met many different kinds. In any case always very colourful, great photographic subjects.

dry today, will be back

Senk (2355) 2007-06-29 3:40

very nice Lung,

Nong Seng

PixelTerror (0) 2007-06-29 4:03

Hi Kevin,
LOL what a picturesque collection of guys, can't really understand why they do like this but I have to respect their right of difference. I see two details that would not belong to such a scene imho, the watch and the yellow jerrican, nit a problem the overall impression is quite funny, especially with the one guy weaving at you.
Have a nice day,
JEan-Yves

oochappan (4880) 2007-06-29 6:10

As the show must go on hey Kevin, all those sadhus or holy men or how many use the fancy fair of the religion as a way to beg, as a way to get out of their arranged marriage to become a sadhu to survive without the social security, expelled from their family finding solidarity and competition among their brothers especially on tourist spots, thrown out the Meenakshi by police order. The vishnu followers in the majority here noticed by their colored V-ornanmentations on their forehead. I remember with a smile a so called registrated sadhu beggar at Thiruparangkundram coming towards me with the words 'God bless you' ... couldn't help it, before I knew I replied him spontanuously with a smile 'Don't insult me man !' :).
With all respect for the not so visable real sadhus these ones becomes indeed a colorfull aspect on the black trail of tourists who pays for everything to maintain their peace, making it even worse for others.
A pleasant perpspecive with the backdrop of the wall to show this colorful maskarade.
greetings
Henk
PS
sorry if I let myself go a bit but indeed a fine document to illustrate what you see on these places but more and more I deny them as tourist fancy-fair attributes.

ndb1958 (9289) 2007-06-29 9:33

Hi Kevin,
beautiful image of these guys and an interesting note with a certain humor. Even some interesting comments. Whatever they are, they are an attraction for my eyes and I like the way you caught them. Did you have to pay to take the picture?
Nino

sothy81 (9646) 2007-06-29 22:51

HI Kevin,

A very nice portraiture of the men from Nepal. I recalled seeing a similar shot from Vincz before. Very nice capture in wideangle. Very interesting to how they look like with those painting. Well done.

Sothy

axiotea (21651) 2007-06-30 3:24

Hi Kevin
Good capture of these sadhus (I've already seen the one on the right side on TE) sitting on the stair which creates a diagonal in the compo. Their painted faces give a nice touch of color and stand out well against the gray/white stones of the temple.
Have a nice day
Marilyn

banyanman (7797) 2007-07-01 8:23

Hi Kevin. A good capture of this group of sadhus, although I think it would have been better if the one on the right had not been waving and looking at you. But I know how difficult that can be to achieve. As soon as you raise the camera to your eye, they look at you or adopt some sort of pose, believing that is what you want. What I often do in circumstances like this is take a shot from eye level, and then when they think you have finished, and using the same focus and exposure settings, shoot one from the waist when they are not looking. Then I delete the first and use the more candid shot. Cheers . . . David

adores (46979) 2007-07-02 15:47

Hi Kevin!
Another great photo of Nepal! They are fantastic and the details are really great. I've never been there but the bag really caught my eye here. Great composition!
Regards, Anabela

capthaddock (28790) 2007-07-05 13:43

Creepy creep creepy, but totally photogenic, except that yellow container.

AmiBe (6042) 2007-07-11 13:59

Hi Kevin,
nice Sadhus meeting :)
I can recognize the man of the right, Vincz showed a picture of him recently.
Good compo and light.
rgs

Polonaise (5802) 2007-07-24 8:11

And yet...Another lovely bunch of high spirited ones..

Oh, man...

The world is such a splendid place to live (:-)))))
-----------------

Extraordinary presentation...
Flawless in its final stage for publishing web wide...

Have a great one, Kev

george

grandklaus (423) 2007-07-27 9:57