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Volume 3 72 |
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PRIESTLY MENDICANTS OF THE SIMLA HIGHLANDS |
ASCETICISM CARRIED TO EXTREMES |
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| The Brahmin, or priest, is the first of the four recognized classes of Hindus, and all priests are Brahmins, but all Brahmins are by no means priests. These three members of the priestly brotherhood, photographed in the hills near Simla, have exchanged their monotonous temple duties for the precarious life of the wanderer, but the orthodox take care that they never lack for food | Held ever in the one position his arm has withered and the finger-nails have grown through the palm of his hand. It is for the advancement of his spiritual welfare that the Hindu ascetic thus mortifies his flesh |