Photo of the Day

an elderly woman performing a ritual in India
January 25, 2014

Predawn Offering

Before dawn during India's Maha Kumbh Mela—the largest religious festival in the world—an old woman performs puja, a ritual offering to the gods. Kumbh Mela's most devout pilgrims are often elderly. They come for the entire festival and renounce all comfort while there.

See more pictures from the February 2014 feature story “The Karma of the Crowd.”

Photograph by Alex Webb, National Geographic

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