BODHNATH, Tibet—Shechen Monastery, 1996. Tulku Khentrul Lodro Rabsel (12 years old) with his tutor Lhagyel. At the age of 5, Khentrul decided that he had lived with his parents long enough and that it was time for him to enter the monastery. Two or three years after their death, important lamas are reincarnated in the body of a child. The search for this child is based on the information left by the lama himself: dreams, visions, and the intuition of other lamas. The Tulkus are discovered at 3 or 4 years of age, declared at about 4 or 5, and then enter the monastery at the age of 6. According to the rules of the monastery, each Tulku is instructed by a tutor. All the Tulkus are called Rinpoche which means "the precious one."
"I was never concerned with making a conventional travelogue of Tokyo, many exist and are useful guides. I was more interested in atmosphere, feeling, a sense of the strange, the whimsical, the daft, all quite intangible. I wanted the viewer, like me, to feel they sort of understood it, but didn't. They recognised something but could not quite figure it out." - Chris Steele-Perkins, February 2007
Personal Best
by Elliott Erwitt
Elliott loves dogs, beaches, nudists and religion as "interesting photographic topics." He says he now has to do books—"I've been around so long, most editors think I'm dead."
Tibetan Tulkus: Images of Continuity
by Martine Franck
Tulkus are children believed to be reincarnated lamas. They are guided by teachings of a dedicated tutor and are revered throughout their lives. Martine Franck visited them in monasteries in Tibet and India in 1996.
The most important of Hindu pilgrimages, Kumbh Mela will come to a close Feb. 26. During Kumbh Mela, millions of pilgrims come to bathe in the holy rivers in India. Bruce Gilden documented this extraordinary gathering in 2001. (This gallery contains nudity.)