Crossing Faith (Mauritius, Valley of the Priests)

During the Thaipusam Kavadi celebrated at the Valley of the Priests , near Port Louis , Hindu worshippers undergo a test of faith in honor of the god Murugan . In this photo taken in Mauritius, a young boy participates in the ritual procession, his cheeks pierced by a vel , a symbol of purification and silent offering. This ancient Tamil ritual marks the end of a period of fasting, prayer, and abstinence, and culminates at the Kaylasson Temple , an emblematic sanctuary of the Mauritian Tamil community. The piercings, carried out in a state of trance, testify to an embodied spirituality, where pain becomes prayer, and the body, a channel of devotion.