India: Allahabad and Varanasi

Allahabad and Varanasi are India’s holiest river towns. Allahabad hosts the largest religious gathering on the planet at the confluence of its sacred rivers. Art joins nearly 20 million pilgrims for a dip in the Ganges and captures images of Hindu holy men – ascetics – who have renounced all worldly pursuits. Downstream, in ancient Varanasi, the sacred and the ordinary meet in a swirl of color, fire and ritual. Hindus strive to visit this spiritual epicenter at least once in their lives to bathe in the Ganges and cleanse their karma.