Buddha Purnima, McLeodGanj, Dharamsala, India

While in McLeod Ganj, I also saw the annual Buddha Purnima festival around the Tsuglagkhang complex. It marks the day of the Buddha's enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, Bihar.  Since the Buddha is also a member of the Hindu pantheon—a slick retrofitting job by the Brahmins made him the 9th avatar of Vishnu—thousands of pilgrims, ascetics, and other poor Hindus descend from surrounding areas to pay homage or to collect alms. A few even arrive after multiple days of travel. I saw many severely disabled people here, including lepers with festering sores (some had also been cured of this easily curable disease; though leprosy rates have declined in India because of govt. programs, talking to the patients reveals the social stigma that still surrounds leprosy and the sad persistence of misinformation about it). Buddhist monks start their celebrations at midnight with chants and prayers and donate generously with open arms. This vast, deeply affecting, and uniquely Indian drama that unfolds is over by the evening with the visitors returning home. [—23 May 05]

A day of giving	Throngs	Faceless?	Precariously perched
Sadhu			Couple
Father with daughters			Row of visitors
Picking lice?	Leprosy victim	Chanting for alms	All smiles
Two young women			Smoking weed
Monk			Two women
Working woman	Women	Tibetan-Indian	Leprosy victim
Hope and anticipation	Young woman	Family	Devotees of Shiva
Throngs	Young woman	Young woman	Sadhu
Young woman	Two women	Face of suffering?	Throngs
Boy smoking weed	Mother and child	Sadhu	Man on the Kora
Seeking alms	Sadhu	Pilgrim	Father and children
Mother and child	Sadhu	Squatting girl	Sadhu
Seeking alms	Two boys	Sadhu	Father with children
Two sadhus	Sadhu	Chillum time	Give me too
Elderly pair	Don't forget me!	Young women	Hey you, sir!