Prateek Dubey

The man in the picture is a priest. Priests in North India usually wear orange. Orange or Saffron is the holy color of Hinduism. It is the color of fire. Hindus believe that of all the elements in the world only fire cannot be polluted so is the purest.

The ash smeared holy man is called a Naga Sadhu. Nagas live completely naked and some even smear ashes from burnt corpses. It is to remind oneself of the reality of death in the whole existence and its real presence in our lives. It requires a lot of conviction and self restraint to live like this in all seasons, so such people are highly revered in India.

Holi is perhaps the most interesting of Hindu festivals. Holi is played just at the onset of summer in North India which is usually in late February or mid March.People play with wet and dry colors and sing songs in the praise of the Lord. Holi is centered around Krishna, the mischievous avatar of Vishnu.

An everyday scene in the streets of Old Delhi. Everything works well in this chaos . It is place of colors, textures and many different aromas.

The picture is of Golden temple and the artificial body of water surrounding it. Golden temple is the holiest of Sikh shrines and the seat of their spiritual and social entity. Taking a dip in the water energizes a person spiritually.

Time, sand and harsh weather wears everything down in Ladakh. It is a high altitude desert, where the hardiest venture and survive.

Yaks are much like the regular bovine creatures, but are much smaller, have a heavy fur coat and can survive on very little grass. They are best suited for higher altitudes. In India they are found at higher reaches of the Himalayas. This was shot at Ladakh in North India.

This little girl belongs to a community of people called the 'Natas'. They perform magic tricks, tight rope walking and tell stories in an animated manner. Natas are much like gypsies and lead a nomadic lifestyle. Here the family is performing at a religious congregation in the holy city of Haridwar.

These gentlemen belong to the Sikh community. A warrior class of people who are easily distinguished by their turbans and beard. Their religion requires that they never cut their hair. Here these two guys having traveled for long to reach one of their holy shrines are resting.

It is a photograph depicting a monk and his dog venturing into the kingdom of light. Metaphorically it has overtones of a person's spiritual journey . Shot at Ladakh, which is a place in the North Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir, it was one of the priceless moments which I cherish. On the right is a stone Pagoda called the Chorten. Mysterious structures whom some believe house remains of dead Llamas.