In central India, the Ramnami people carry their faith on their skin. They are known for tattooing the single word Ram — the name of their god — across their bodies from head to toe.

In the 19th century they were called Untouchables, denied entry to temples and judged unworthy to utter the name of God. So this small sect of Dalits turned their bodies into scripture — an act of both resistance and devotion. The tattoos are not wounds but prayers, not shame but pride. Each mark is a protest and a proclamation: that no human being can be judged unworthy of the divine.

Over time, the Ramnamis nurtured a tradition of chanting and reciting scripture, carrying their god not in stone temples but in their own flesh and breath. The younger generation, the first to be touched by modern media, may also be the last to live among elders who bore the word of God in their very skin.

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