Contemporary life of India : Part 1

It is impossible to know India without understanding its religious beliefs, living and    practices, which have a large impact on the personal lives of most Indians and influence public life on a daily basis. Indian religions have deep historical roots that are recollected by contemporary Indians.

Modern-day sadhu (ascetic), wearing only

beads with his face caked in ash, raises his

hand in blessing to the unknown photographer.

According to Hindu mythology, his

beads, or rudraksh, have medicinal powers.

In Calcutta, now known as Kolkata,

the Victoria Museum. Built at the behest

of Lord George Curzon (one of the

British Raj’s most flamboyant and much

derided viceroys) and of marble from the

same quarry that had supplied the builders

of the Taj Mahal in the seventeenth century.

Throughout India’s

numerous and varied states, images of the

old and the new constantly converge.

On a crowded city

street, the multitude of life that is India.