Fredrik Renander - Photojournalist

Kerala

6 Jul 2010 15:00:00 GMT

Kerala is a fairly small state in the south-western corner of India, a narrow fertile strip of lush tropical land squeezed in between the Lakshadweep sea and the Cardamom Hills. It's unique among Indian states in that it has a literacy rate above 90% (as compared to the national average of 65%), is considered the least corrupt, has comparatively well functioning and publicly funded healthcare and educational systems, and is the only state where female feticides are uncommon with more females than males being born.

Its illustrious backwaters, a labyrinthine of interconnected rivers, canals and lakes forming more than 900 km of waterways, lure thousands of tourists from around the world each year.

Kerala (slide show)

1 May 2010 10:00:00 GMT

A slide show with pictures from Kerala in southern India.

Dubai

19 Feb 2010 17:40:00 GMT

Dubai is a city that has literally risen from the desert. In less than 10 years, where there was once only sand, a completely new city has been built just to the west of its old city center, much to the world's surprise and fascination.

Lebanon and its Uncertain Future

6 Feb 2010 13:00:00 GMT

Lebanon has for thousands of years been an important crossroad between the east and west and has been influenced by many different civilazations.

Many scars are still visible througout the country from the many conflicts its people has had to endure in recent times: perhaps most importantly the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), and the Israel - Hezbollah war in 2006 which saw over 100,000 shells being dropped over many parts of the country, killing and wounding thousands of civilians and destroying much of Lebanon's infrastructure.

New civil wars have been dangeriously close at breaking out again on several occasions. In the summer of 2008, armed Hezbollah guerrilla soldiers stormed Beirut and seized control over large parts of the city in the worst internal conflict since the civil war, before negotiations lead to an agreement being signed in Doha and Hezbollah withdrew from the city after 13 days.

After the elections in June of 2009, a struggle for minister posts meant a govenment failed to form and the country was without leadership for several months. In November, after five months of cabinet negotiations, a government finally managed to form, though comprised of many different rival groups with a wide range of loyalties and agendas.

The proud and outgoing Lebanese people, clearly hardened by the many years of turmoil they have endured, may seem to an outside observer to have maintained an almost paradoxial zest for life. Beirut's streets are teeming with life and hundreds of restaurants, bars and nightclubs are filled to their limits every night in a city that never seems to sleep. But just below the surface, tensions and worries about an uncertain future remains.

Damascus

29 Jan 2010 16:15:00 GMT

Syria's capital Damascus, also known as the "City of Jasmine", has a history dating back to circa 9000 BC and is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.

Damascus Gate - The world's largest restaurant

17 Jan 2010 21:15:00 GMT

The Damascus Gate restaurant is located in the outskirts of Damascus in Syria and was recently recognized as the world's largest restaurant by the Guinness World Records. The restaurant can seat over 6,000 guests spread across 54,000 square meters and employs around 1800 staff in the summer months.

An Indian Wedding in Goa (slide show)

31 Dec 2009 14:45:00 GMT

A photo slide show from a 3 day long Indian wedding in Goa. (You might be asked to install a plug-in before the slide show will be presented.)

Land of Snowy Mountains

5 Feb 2009 15:50:00 GMT

Himachal Pradesh is a state in northern India which name means "Land of snowy mountains". Located in the western Himalayas, it has a varied landscape and a climate which spans from sub-tropical to alpine. Shimla, the state's capital, was the summer capital of the British Raj until India's independence in 1947. At that time one fifth of the world's population was administrated from here.

Ladakh

6 Mar 2008 14:30:00 GMT

Ladakh is the northernmost region in India, a dry and isolated land of dramatic snow-capped mountains and high passes. The proximity to Tibet has strongly influenced the area which is predominantly Buddhist.

Kolkata

24 Apr 2007 20:25:00 GMT

Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) is India's third largest city and often considered the artistic and cultural capital of the country.

Calcutta Blind Theatre

16 Apr 2007 08:40:00 GMT

Anyadesh is the name of a theatre group from Calcutta that consists of mainly blind members. The name means "another world" and the troop has toured the Indian state of West Bengal since the beginning of 2006. The group helps oppressed blind people to integrate into the world of the sighted, while spreading their message that blindness might be a physical handicap, but needn�t be a mental one.

The Kathmandu Valley

24 Feb 2007 11:00:35 GMT

The Kathmandu Valley in Nepal.

Bangkok

5 Dec 2006 03:04:49 GMT

The city of Bangkok, Thailand.

The Chatwal Wedding

2 Mar 2006 03:11:24 GMT

The spectacular wedding between New York-based hotel scion Vikram Chatwal and Indian model Priya Sachdev lasted a week, with ten lavish parties spread out over three Indian cities. Many Indians dubbed it "the wedding of a decennium"

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The Dabbawalas

8 Jun 2006 03:09:40 GMT

It's known as one of the most efficient organizations in the world. The remarkable dabbawallas (lunch-box-delivery-men) of Bombay delivers roughly 200,000 lunches daily from the suburban homes to the offices in the city's commercial center. Despite most of them being illiterate, they make only one mistake in eight million deliveries. This has qualified them for the Forbes Magazine's 6 Sygma rating, a rating given to determine an organizations delivery performance, and thus the humble dabbawalas' accuracy outperform many of the world's most well-known companies.

Rebuilding Sri Lanka

14 Dec 2005 03:55:20 GMT

The situation in Sri Lanka almost one year after the tsunami is still highly unsatisfactory for most of the nearly 800.000 people who lost their homes in the tragedy. The vast majority still live in makeshift camps and after the initial global enthusiasm faded, the reconstruction work has progressed very slowly. Government corruption and the conflict with the Tamil Tigers have further delayed the effort to the degree of making Sri Lanka the slowest to recover of all countries hit by the tsunami on December 26, 2004. Tourists are beginning to return, but still in very small numbers, and the southern coast, which depends heavily on the tourist industry, suffers severely. The government has announced a "buffer zone" along the coast where no new permanent houses are allowed to be built. Many critical voices accuse the government for corruption, and for taking advantage of the tragedy, as plans to build large hotel resorts within this zone have been made public.

Kalaripayattu - Kerala's Warriors

28 Nov 2005 04:20:56 GMT

Kalaripayattu is widely considered the oldest martial art still practiced in the world today and the forefather to other popular systems such as Kung-fu and Karate. It originates from the tropical, south-Indian state of Kerala where, in ancient times, the warriors' responsibility was to protect the priestly caste from invaders. The art is practiced with authentic weapons and without any protective gear. Injuries are common and many generations of experience have made the Kalaripayattu practitioners experts at treating various ailments. The popularity of Kalaripayattu has steadily declined as India has modernized and people are left with less time to practice the traditional arts. These days many Kalaripayattu teachers simultaneously scrape out a living by running ayurvedic clinics in the towns where they treat their patients with massage, herbal remedies, and other traditional techniques passed on to them by their ancestors.

Mumbai

14 Nov 2005 08:22:07 GMT

Pictures from Mumbai (aka Bombay), one of the fastest growing cities in the world.

The Kolis - in Mumbai's Shadow

2 Nov 2005 01:23:17 GMT

Long before the city of Mumbai (Bombay) was built, a traditional fishing tribe called the Kolis inhabited the seven islands on which the sprawling city is built today. Now their villages dot the urban coastline, and while new skyscrapers continuously grow up around them, most people in their community keep living by their ancient trade. Mumbai is predicted to become the world's most populous city by the year 2025, and as space is an ever growing demand, their settlements as well as their traditional way of life are both threatened to be swallowed by one of the fastest growing cities in the world.

Italy

29 Sep 2005 04:21:23 GMT

Pictures from Italy.

Sweden

27 Sep 2005 04:25:02 GMT

Pictures from Sweden.

Lifeline Express

13 Jul 2005 04:27:23 GMT

The Lifeline Express was founded as the world's first hospital train. India's extensive railway network makes a train an ideal way to reach remote parts of the country where a majority of the population is too poor to afford healthcare. After travelling the railroads for 14 years, over 400,000 Indians have benefited from the remarkable train on which major surgeries have been performed to restore movement, hearing, sight and correction of clefts.

A Daughter Lost

16 Feb 2005 04:30:14 GMT

Kumar and Bakyalakshmi used to live in Annan Koil, a small fishing community about 200 km south of Madras in southern India, before the village was demolished by the tsunami. After fifteen years of marriage they had one child; a five year old daughter. She was swept away by the sea that day.

Tsunami Aftermath in India

10 Jan 2005 07:32:43 GMT

When a tsunami struck parts of Asia and Africa on December 26, 2004, the tragedy would slowly reveal itself as one of the most devastating natural disasters in human history. In its aftermath it left behind enormous suffering and an unimaginable number of dead and homeless people. In India around 15.000 people lost their lives, most of them in the southern state of Tamil Nadu where poor fishing communities, living in simple huts on the beaches, stood little chance to defy the forces of nature.

Pushkar Camel Fair

2 Dec 2004 10:35:28 GMT

For a few days every year, the small Indian town of Pushkar transforms from a sleepy desert outpost to a bustling spectacle when it hosts the epic camel fair. Tens of thousands of villagers, some who have walked for many days with their camels through the desert, join the fair to trade their livestock.

Kashmir Conflict

28 Oct 2004 08:37:45 GMT

In 1947, when the new nations of India and Pakistan gained independence and the British colonists left the south Asian subcontinent, Kashmir was supposed to remain an autonomous region. However, soon after independence, Pakistani raiders began infiltrating the Kashmir valley. The leader of Kashmir called for help and India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, sent troops and signed a UN resolution with the promise of withdrawing once the task was completed. The promise was broken and the troops stayed. Since then rigged elections, massive human rights violations, and false promises have been common practices. The Kashmiris have found themselves caught in the rivalry between two nations, both claiming full supremacy of Kashmir, in what some influential world leaders call the most alarming conflict on earth due to both nations� nuclear weapon arsenals. India and Pakistan have been on the verge of full scale war several times and so far around 80.000 people have lost their lives in the conflict.

City of Widows

23 Sep 2004 07:53:19 GMT

In traditional Indian society, a woman loses her value the day her husband dies. Unlike a man she is not allowed to remarry, and from that day onwards, especially in the more traditional communities, she is expected to live an ascetic life, shave her head and sleep on the floor, and to spend the rest of her days praying for her husband's departed soul. She is forbidden to wear colorful clothes, jewelry, or to eat meat, and she is not allowed to own property. Many of the widows, feeling they have become a burden in their families or simply by being kicked out from their houses, seek refuge in Vrindavan. Being the birthplace of the Hindu god Krishna they come with the hope for his protection. Many of them stay until they die, living their lives in extreme poverty and despair.

The Char Dham Yatra

14 Jul 2004 07:56:28 GMT

In the very northern parts of the Indian state of Uttaranchal, near the Tibetan border, is the source of the Ganges known as Gaumukh, the "cow's mouth". Every year thousands of holy men, pilgrims, and tourists complete the trek up in the Himalayan mountains to witness the origin of the river that has such gigantic significance in the lives of many Indians.

Rishikesh

29 May 2004 07:59:23 GMT

Rishikesh in northern India is known as the 'Yoga Capital of the World'. The small town on the foot hills of the Himalayas was placed on the world map when The Beatles came here to study Indian philosophy and meditation in the sixties. The Beatles, during the height of their fame, did what many of the generation's young people who had joined the hippie movement did; they dropped out of western society for a while to seek refuge and answers to life's eternal questions in India. The hippie movement has since long vanished, but Rishikesh keeps attracting a vast number of westerners coming to learn the ancient Indian art of Yoga.

Land in the Clouds

13 May 2004 08:01:11 GMT

The hill station of Mussoorie in northern India.

Ardh Kumbh Mela

22 Apr 2004 08:03:29 GMT

Every third year Hindus in India celebrate the religious festival called Ardh Kumbh Mela. This time the northern city of Haridwar hosted the event which moves around between four sacred cities on the subcontinent. The month long festival reached its climax on the 14th of April 2004 when, according to Hindu belief, favorable planetary positions made a bath in the holy water of the river Ganges extra auspicious. Sadhus, priests, and pilgrims from all over India came with the hope to wash away past sins in the sacred water. An estimated 3 million people visited the festival.

Delhi's HIV Positive Drug Addicts

8 Mar 2004 08:05:24 GMT

One third of Delhi's intravenous drug addicts are HIV positive. This is a disturbing story about a group of them living on the very edge of society in India. The streets of Delhi are their home.

Taj Mahal

2 Mar 2004 08:07:23 GMT

The Taj Mahal was built by mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1631 as a mausoleum for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died while giving birth to their 13th child. It took 20.000 laborers 22 years to complete the construction.

A Lost Kingdom

16 Jan 2004 08:09:08 GMT

Prince Cirusaly's and Princess Sakeena's great-great-great grandfather was the last King of Oudh, Wajid Ali Shah, who once ruled five million subjects from Lucknow in Northern India. In the year 1856, British Colonial rulers dethroned the King and annexed his kingdom. While some Maharaja families were allowed to keep their palaces, many of which today have been rebuilt into lavish five star hotels bringing the income enabling them to sustain an extravagant lifestyle, the Oudh's lost their palaces and privileges and many in the family were left with very little. In 1985, after having occupied a waiting room in the New Delhi train station for ten years in an attempt to get their palaces and privileges back by embarrassing the Indian government, the then prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, offered them a house in New Delhi. Today the once wealthy family is almost broke, having been forced to sell many of their royal antiques to take care of themselves, feed their dogs and pay their servants.

Bodhgaya - Buddhist Pilgrimage

29 Dec 2003 08:09:58 GMT

Around 2500 years ago a prince named Siddhartha left his palace and his future as a king to live as an ascetic in search for the truths of life. One day he came to the place now known as Bodhgaya. Here he would spend the following seven years meditating under a tree until one day he came to the realization of life's truths. He had now become a Buddha, an enlightened one. With his realization he laid ground for the religion in our time known as Buddhism with around 500 million followers the world over, mostly in Asia. Today Bodhgaya is the most important pilgrimage site for Buddhists.

Varanasi - Shortcut to Heaven

19 Dec 2003 08:12:53 GMT

Varanasi in northern India, the city of Lord Shiva, is one of the holiest cities for Hindus and an important destination for devout Indian pilgrims. Many Hindus believe dying here offers instant moksha, liberation from the continuous cycle of birth and death. The sacred river of Ganges flows through the city, and devotees from all corners of the country flock to bathe in its water, a ritual believed to wash away all sins.

New York City

20 Dec 2002 08:14:40 GMT

Pictures from New York City.