The woman passing me in a bright orange and red sari looked remarkably composed for someone with a metal skewer pushed through one cheek and coming out of the other.
Her poise and focus were mirrored in dozens of other pilgrims sporting similarly excruciating-looking piercings. Some even had metal hooks penetrating the flesh of their backs to support wooden frames towering over their heads or acting as anchors for ropes held like reins by companions.
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