Colourful India -2

The biggest religious march in the world takes place at Pandharpur, in Maharashtra, India. A million people walk about 200 kilometers to join the fest in memory of the 17th-century saint-poet Tukaram. Part of the festivity is singing Tukaram hymns standing on top of a human pillar. The man at the apex has to sing a complete hymn beating on his drum.

People taking a bath during a local religious fair in Kurukshetra, a small city in northern India. On every solar eclipse, thousands of people come from all parts of India to take a dip in this holy tank.

Mana village, Uttaranchal, on the India and Tibet border

On the fourth day of Shukla Paksha of Kartik, lakhs of devotees along the Indo-Gangetic plains, chiefly Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, begin the four-day Chhath festival, in continuance of a tradition that goes back to posterity, carrying forward India's living tradition of worshipping the divine creator and nourisher of the Sun God. Photo courtesy: Mukesh Srivastava

A wedding procession in Varanasi, India. The band and the lights are part of the groom's procession, which walks its way towards the bride's house.

Kusti is a form of traditional Indian wrestling.

This street flower vendor in a wholesale flower market in Kolkata (Calcutta), India, kept on loading marigold garlands over his shoulders until he became almost three times his original size, and still kept asking for more.

Tea plucking at the lush green gardens at the foothills of the Himalaya around Darjeeling is still an activity dominated by women. They do it perfectly with a smile. Captured at Sungma Tea Estate, Darjeeling, India.

In a remote village in the Sunderbans delta in West Bengal, India, fresh water is much scarcer during the summertime. Women have to go a half kilometer away to fetch drinking water from a tube well.

Snake charmer with the Amber Fort as a backdrop, Jaipur, India

Schoolchildren take a mathematics test outside the classroom at a school dedicated to Guru Ravidas, a north Indian human rights advocate who in the 15th century campaigned against caste discrimination in India.

The view in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, border in South India.

Pottery making is a means of livelihood in some of the rural areas of India. It is not only interesting to watch but also rewarding to get your hands dirty. This picture is that of a girl with mehndi on her hands who didn't mind getting her hands muddy in the excitement of creating the pottery.

The long walk up this road in Jaipur was definitely worth it for the view.

Omkareshwar Mandhata is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines. Every year from mid-June to mid-July on every Monday, a julush, or procession, is held in the midst of a shower of thousands of rose petals, chanting of hymns, and scented colored powder.

So many billboards in one location. This photo was taken in Ameerpet,Hyderabad, India.

Shot in the morning after rains flooded the Aghanashini River (Kumta, India). The laterite soil added the color red to the river.

Babas want to get closer to God, so each day at the hottest hour of the day, noontime, they sit around flames of dung and smoke to torture their bodies in sacrifice. Haridwar, India.

Girl walking on a rope during the annual desert festival at Jaisalmer, India

Washerwoman along the ghats in Varanasi (also known as Benaras) in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. They wash the clothes in the Ganges and let them dry in the adjoining ghats.

Sparrow on buffalo's head

Along the Ganges, a candle flower ceremony for luck

The ceremony occurs daily at dusk at many revered sites such as Haridwar, Varanasi, Vrindavan, etc.

The Indian bride's hands are decorated with mehndi on the day of her marriage when she leaves her parents' home and goes with her husband to start a new life. The color red is the color of marriage in India.

These two boys are dressed like the Hindu gods Ram and Sita to play a spiritual drama from the epic of Ramayana.