Hindu men sitting in the hot sun with five fires around them to seek religious merit, Vārānasi , India, ca. 1920

"Sadhus torturing themselves by sitting in the hot sun with five fires around them. The temperature was 120 in the shade when this picture was taken." Five men sit cross-legged on the round with rags around their legs in a row. Each man has five fires around him. There is a group of people sitting underneath umbrellas behind these men. Some of the men have rags on or around their heads. This photograph is from an album prepared by W. K. Norton of The Pilgrims Mission, Benares [Vārānasi].