"To become a Jain priest", Youvraj explains, "you have to remove your hair." Sounds simple enough. "But it cannot be shaved off." Ok. "It must be pulled out by the hands." Ouch. "And if you show any pain, you fail." Bugger. We are at Ranakpur Temple, at the foot of the mountains in southern Rajasthan. It is a holy site for the Jain religion and is sweltering in the afternoon sun. There is some respite in the shade amongst the marble columns (1444 in total), but we are without water, which is banned; along with food, leather, and 'Women in their Mense'.
Jains must cover their mouths, and some of the holy men travel all around India by foot, completely naked (presumably except for a mouth cover - we have yet to spot any on the road). The guy above is mixing saffron for performing the bindi (red forehead dot). We are not sure what the guy below is doing. He seems to be just hanging around the temple.
I gather Bruce changed his mind about becoming a priest. Love the ring story. Look forward to seeing the end result.
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