Bharat. Varanasi. Uttar Pradesh

Bharat, the son of a dhobi on the ghats in Varanasi

Raj. Jodhpur. Rajasthan

Raj, a little rag-picker in a street of Jodhpur

Medrasa. Bijapur. Karnataka

In a madras of Karnataka

Rajuri. Pushkar. Rajasthan

Rajuri on the Ghats in Pushkar.

Howni. Dwarka. Gujarat

Howny, a girl leaving school to go home with her sister Vanitha seen there:.
www.flickr.com/photos/clodreno/4318474992/in/set-72157623...

Amara. Orchha. Madhya Pradesh

Amara, a indian woman doing ther laundry on the banks of the Betwa river in beautiful Orchha.

Shy. Udaipur

A little Rajasthani girl during a festival in Udaipur.
www.claude-renault.fr

Eyes. Varanasi. Uttar Pradesh

A Sadhu I met in Varanasi, he had a srtriking pair of light green eyes, a gentleman as well.
www.claude-renault.fr

Benazir. Pondicherry

Benazir, a little girl living on Rue Moulad in Pondicherry

Porttrait. Ooty. Tamil Nadu

A man posing for me on the horse racing track in Ooty. He commes here everyday during the race season to bet on horses.

Mamta. Udaipur. Rajasthan

Mamta, a young Rajasthani begger during a Vishnu festival in Udaipur. For one day, all the poor people from around the city come to beg in the streets.This image is shot at the exit of the beautiful Jagdish temple.

www.claude-renault.fr

Chinnapen. Chidambaram

Chinnapen can be seen at the entrance of the temple in Chidambaram.
She takes care of the people visiting it.

Sadhu. Varanasi

Papu. Pushkar. Rajasthan

Once again I met Papu in Pushkar and she was well.

Poku and Mamounta. Pushkar. Rajasthan

Poku and Mamounta, two young girls spending their time begging in the streets of Pushkar.
http://www.claude-renault.fr

Hijras. New Delhi

Hijras having a quick lunch on a sidewalk of New Delhi. They just won a battle in Tamil Nadu, being recognized as a Third sex. They are now able to have "T" ( transexual) added to their documents allowing them to have the same rights as other citizens. Tamil Nadu has the biggest population of Transexual in India, about 100.000 accding to the "times of India".
www.claude-renault.fr

Sur. Jaisalmer. Rajasthan

Sur, a young woman from Jaisalmer, going back home with her bags on her head.

Chai. Mandawa. Rajasthan

Wandering through the streets of Mandawa, this woman and a friend of her invited me into their courtyard to have a Tea.

Sunita. Moti Bagh. New Delhi

Sunita, working in front of her home in a slum of Moti Bagh in New Delhi.
A beautiful girl

Rampal. Pushkar. Rajasthan

Rampal, A musician from Pushkar lighting his beedi under the tent where he lives outisde Pushkar

Enchie. Near Jodhpur. Rajasthan

Enchie, A Bishnoi woman in a village south of Jodhpur

Workers. Neemrana. Rajasthan

A woman working on the renovation of the Neemrana fort.

Meena. Vrindavan. Uttar Pradesh

Meena, a begger in fornt of the Iskcon Ashram in vrindavan. A few families live uner homemade tgents there to be able to make some money from the pilgrims coming to worship Lord Krishna.
When i asked her for her name she showed me the tattoo on her arm.
http://www.claude-renault.fr

Workers. Neemrana. Rajasthan

Rajastani women working on the renovation of the Neemrana fort.

Choti Lal. Alwar. Rajasthan

Choti Lali feeding her cow in a street of Alwar; Rajasthan

Sita. Pushkar. Rajasthan

Sita, a singer from Pushkar. I met her the first time in 2001. I have since met her a few times.
You can see a few images of her on my blogs. She is Rajuri's aunt.

Sanjata. Jodhpur. Rajasthan

Sanjata, a girl from Jodhpur. She lives in her blue house at the feet
of the beautiful Mehrangarh Fort lies at the outskirts of Jodhpur city and
is located atop a 125 m high hill. The most beautiful in Rajasthan.

Posing. Nizamudin

A portrait of a devotee inside Nizamudin Dargah

Sultan. Bikaner

Sultan, A Rajasthani on the market in Bikaner.
He even sold me the scarf he is wearing.

Moti Bagh. New Delhi

A woman living in Moti Bagh posing for me in front of her house. My first Delhi impression this trip, thanks to Evren and Sandy, two friends living there.

Nolita. Vrindavan. Uttar Pradesh

Nolita is a widow from west Bengal living in Vrindavan. Everyday she attend the Sri Bagwan Bhajan Ashram to sing, a way to get free meals.

Papu. Pushkar. Rajasthan

Papu, smoking a beedi with me in front of her shop in Pushkar...

Rajasthani Girl. Jaisalmer

A Rajasthani girl on the market in Jaisalmer. She was coming from a remote village of the Thar desert and was a bit afraid of me, hiding in her mother's dress.

Rajuri. Pushkar. Rajasthan

3 years later, Rajuri is still pretty and still singing in Pushkar. You can see her 3 years ago two pictures beneath

Worker. Gulbarga. Karnataka

A woman working on the building site of the fortress of Gulbarga. She was carrying stones to the top of the remparts.
www.claude-renault.fr

Rajuri. Pushkar

Rajuri is from a caste of singer. She usually sings with her father in Pushkar. She is Beautiful.

Worker. Udaipur. Rajasthan

A working woman in Udaipur can be very feminine. She was doing hard work in the dry lake of Udaipur..
She was working on the sewer system with other women.
The green background being the grass of the the dry lake

Buta. Gaumukh

The same sadhu shown in the previous image.
In 2004, I met Buta, a sadhu from Ujjain , at the sources of the Ganges..He travelled all the way from Ujjain to Gangotri.
He was sitting quietly on the bank of the Ganges near the glacier you can spot in the background.

another image of him:
www.flickr.com/photos/clodreno/45017309/in/set-875095/

Shy. Varanasi. Uttar Pradesh

A little girl dressed up in a beautiful sari for the Sarasvati day. She was a bit shy and nervous...During Vasant Panchami, a day for Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and learning, all the kids are dressed up and don't go to school.

Sarasvati represents the free flow of wisdom and consciousness. She is the mother of the Vedas, and chants to her, called the 'Saraswati Vandana' often begin and end Vedic lessons.
Another image of her going to the school with her mother:
www.flickr.com/photos/clodreno/386961155/in/set-875091/

Smile. Varanasi. Uttar Pradesh

A portrait of a woman selling flowers and candles for Puja in Varanasi

Widows. Vrindavan. Uttar Pradesh

Widows staying in an Ashram in Vrindavan, located about 15km away from Mathura, birthplace of Lord Krishna. The widow is praying, with the rosary hidden in a little bag.
It is said that Lord Krishna never leaves Vrindavan.

mathuravrindavan.com/

www.claude-renault.fr

Pilgrim Sri Sailam. Andhra Pradesh

A Pilgrims having lunch on the side of the road while visiting the temples around Sri Sailam.

Untouchable. Haridwar. Uttaranchal

This little "untouchable" girl was begging with her mother on the ghats in Haridwar..

Ayappa. Sabarimala. Kerala

An ayappa at the end of her pilgrimage in Pampa.

Intense Look. Amritsar. Punjab

A portrait of a Sikh pilgrim shot inside the complex of the Gold Temple in Amritsar

Dance. Mamallapuram. Tamil Nadu

A young dancer during the Mamallapuram dance festival which take place every year, the first two weeks of January. The Baratha nathyam is one of the oldest form of dancing in India. When you see it one time, you just feel like going back all the time. It's simply beautiful.

A Sadhu. Prayag. Uttar Pradesh

A Sadhu coming off the Sacred Ganges after having taken his Holy Bath.
Shot during the Ardh Kumbh Mela 2007 in Prayag. Uttar pradesh

The wood cutter's wife. Bijapur. karnataka

A Sadhu. Varanasi

A woman sadhu on the ghats in Varanasi. i posted an image where you can also see herbending next to two sadhus..
www.flickr.com/photos/clodreno/382545113/in/set-875091/

Mangal Giri. A sadhu. Prayag

Mangal Giri, a sadhu, applying his tika on his forehead after having taken his bath in the Sacred ganges during the Ardh Kumbh Mela 2007 in Prayag.