60% of vacations and travel in India are for religious pilgrimages. This is an ongoing series highlighting the different sorts of labor, esp. manual, that underly a Jain pilgrimage in India. It doesn’t remotely capture the complexity, but it’s my attempt to understand the confusing consumerist and caste-ist culture around a Jain pilgrimage, which in theory is supposed to be non-materialistic and non-hierarchical.
Note: I did feel torn on my privileged gaze (as a participant in the pilgrimage with a camera), and welcome any feedback on how to showcase a complicated issue. However, I should clarify I received consent from all identifiable subjects.
