Mariana Zilbershteyn, Ritual and Reverence (DOCO 2025)

On the cold steps of a Varanasi ghat, a sadhu sat shivering, his body trembling from a ritual dip in the Ganges, eyes distant and dazed. Beside him, another sadhu knelt in silent devotion, scooping ash into his hands. With slow motions, he smeared it over the shivering man’s skin and head, a gesture of both ritual and care, reinforcing their detachment from the material world. He then gathered the ash-laden dreadlocks, twisting them into a towering turban. The intoxicated sadhu barely reacted, lost in his trance, while the other worked with quiet reverence. In the sacred stillness of the Ganges their bond remained unspoken yet deeply understood

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