Death is a period of high pollution, both for surviving family members and for everyone
involved in treatment of the body. In these photos, we see the two most important providers of
ritual services. The Brahman (identifiable by his shaven head and the sacred thread around
his bare chest) performs the religious rituals necessary for ensuring the release of the soul
from the body and its onward journey. The Dom is a caste specializing in the highly polluting
work of tending the actual body by stoking the fire that destroys the corpse. Because of this
polluting work, the Dom caste is considered highly impure.
axel boer
(Axel Boer)
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