India: A fakir or yogi with his head buried in the ground, Poornima Festival held near the Yellamma Temple, Saundatti, Karnataka (1994). Every year in the Hindu month of Magh (January - February) more than half a million people gather around the tiny temple of the goddess Yellamma in Saundatti. Yellamma is the patron of the devadasi or women dedicated to the service of a deity or temple.

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Photo credit: © Pictures From History / Alamy / Afripics
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