Shrouded in a haze of blue smoke and swirling ash the freshly packed chillum glows a deep red. Half-closed bloodshot eyes sparkle from the light now filling the cloister around the central courtyard and shrine. What is smoked in the conical clay pipes is a varied mixture of ganja (marijuana flower and leaf), charas (a form of hashish handmade in India from the cannabis plant, which grows wild in the Himalayas) and tobacco. Lord Shiva was closely connected to cannabis, a sacred herb in the Hindu religion. He smoked it and is often pictured with his eyes half-closed and meditating.

©Kieron Nelson "Vanishing Cultures Photography" All rights reserved	Lost in the haze©Kieron Nelson "Vanishing Cultures Photography" All rights reserved
©Kieron Nelson "Vanishing Cultures Photography" All rights reserved	©Kieron Nelson "Vanishing Cultures Photography" All rights reserved
With a chronic rasping cough from smoking pipe after pipe Pashupatinath`s mystics or holy men of Kathmandu, are preparing for their daily rituals. Sadhus occupy a unique and important place in Hindu society, particularly in villages and small towns more closely tied to tradition. In Hinduism, sadhu, or sadhu is a common term for a mystic, an ascetic, practitioner of yoga (yogi), and/or a wandering monk. Sadhus spend a great deal of time meditating and devoting themselves to their chosen deity.

©Kieron Nelson "Vanishing Cultures Photography" All rights reserved	©Kieron Nelson "Vanishing Cultures Photography" All rights reserved
The ash represents their death to their worldly life – in fact, many of them are required to attend their own funeral as part of their holy training. Sadhus are buried and not cremated like other Hindus as they are considered to already be dead unto themselves.
©Kieron Nelson "Vanishing Cultures Photography" All rights reserved	©Kieron Nelson "Vanishing Cultures Photography" All rights reserved

This Sadhu practices yoga every day. The posture is emblematic of the life of a sadhu, for by 'reversing all values', by acting contrary to human nature, they intend to speed up enlightenment. Yoga means Yug- to unite, in which all energies are mobilized in an effort towards the spiritual goal and to unite man and god in devotion.

"Look into my eyes" ©Kieron Nelson "Vanishing Cultures Photography" All rights reserved

I was invited to sit with him, drink some chai, and smoke a chillum. I smiled and told him I was more than happy for allowing me the opportunity to photograph and observe his daily ritual. I did not ask what the bandages were for!

©Kieron Nelson "Vanishing Cultures Photography" All rights reserved
©Kieron Nelson "Vanishing Cultures Photography" All rights reserved	©Kieron Nelson "Vanishing Cultures Photography" All rights reserved
Certainly, not all sadhus are enlightened, but believers regard them all as holy anyway, and successful sadhus are even worshipped as 'gods on earth'. They give donations to the sadhus regarded as offerings to the gods and get their blessing in return. It is becoming increasingly common for beggars or poor people to pose as sadhus for material gain.