Sadhus

Spiritual adventurers, philosophical monks or religious transvestites, the Sadhus of India are worshipped by Hindus as representatives of the gods. Liberated from physical concerns, these mystics form a vital and unbroken link from the birth of yoga millennia ago to its present-day expression. Through meditation, rituals, pilgrimages and 'austerities', each follows a personal path in quest of enlightenment, hoping, amid silence and solitude, renunciation and fasting, divine intoxication and bodily mortification, to cast off all earthly desires, transcend this mortal world and achieve lasting mystic union. An evocative text covering Sadhus' ancient origins, beliefs and behaviours is illuminated by over 100 spectacular colour photographs.