The term sadhu (Sanskrit: "good man, holy man") is applied individually to any one of the millions of holy ascetics informally affiliated with the disparate Hindu religious orders of India. Sadhus are renunciates, who have left behind all material attachments and live in caves, forests and temples all over India and Nepal.Their ascetic practices include the departure from family and home, the application of bodily markings often associated with a particular sect and the wearing of attire associated with a particular sect . Their religious duties include acts of self-purification, worship, participation in religious discourses, the study of sacred literature, and the making of pilgrimages. Sadhus are almost totally dependent on the alms of others for subsistence. In addition, they may also support themselves by engaging in begging, serving as spiritual mentors to personal disciples, interpreting dreams, telling fortunes, reading palms, astrology, manufacturing amulets, performing exorcisms, casting spells, singing, conjuring, juggling, tattooing, or selling medicinal herbs and potions. The following sadhu portraits were shot in various parts of Rajasthan - in temples, ashrams, cremations grounds and on the road.
