Columbus, Ohio, USA

Jankibai, an elderly widow who resides in Vrindavan, on December 18, 2006.
Widows line up for food outside of an ashram gate shortly before dawn in December 2006.
Widows exit an afternoon devotional service in Vrindavan in December 2006. Some of them go to local merchants to spend the rupees that they received for their participation.
Malti, in her 60s, has lived in Vrindavan for about 40 years. About 15 years after she and her family moved to the area, her husband died of tuberculosis. All five of her children have also died. She blames herself for her misfortunes, she said.
Indian women chant and sing during a religious service at a Vrindavan ashram in December 2006. Many Vrindavan widows sing in local temples and ashrams, where they receive food and rupees for their participation.
Like many widows in Vrindavan, Sarswati Gosh, 65, begs on the street and relies on alms for financial support. Gosh, posing for a portrait in December 2006, said she could not afford treatment for the leprosy that has eaten away at her hands and feet.
Widows line up outside of a Vrindavan ashram to receive rupees after their participation in a religious ceremony in December 2006.
Widows head back out into the Vrindavan streets after a religious ceremony at a local ashram in December 2006. Local men look on.
Widows use a candle to warm their hands at their living quarters in December 2006.
A child massages the back of an elderly widow at her home in Vrindavan in December 2006.
A portrait of a widow in her Vrindavan home in December 2006.
A Vrindavan widow scrubs her veil in December 2006.
The sun sets over the Yamuna River, which borders Vrindavan, in December 2006. The Yamuna is the largest tributary of the Ganges River, which is considered to be a holy river in Hinduism.
Widows exit an evening religious service in Vrindavan in December 2006.

City of Widows

In parts of India, widows are heavily stigmatized. After the deaths of their husbands, these women may be cast out of their families, seen as undesirable and a source of bad luck. Over the years, thousands have relocated to central India’s state of Uttar Pradesh – specifically, to Vrindavan, the sacred city where the Hindu god Krishna is believed to have spent part of his childhood. Vrindavan is also a major devotional site within ISKCON, the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (more commonly known as the hare krishna movement). As of 2019, an estimated 6,000 widows resided in Vrindavan, where they spend the remainder of their lives in austerity and piety.

Next portfolio