# @natgeo on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CQBgdS6MZCo
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/11684247-natgeo-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/b9a9a73d9a.jpg
- **Posted:** 2021-06-12T14:30:41.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** National Geographic (@NatGeo) — https://gondola.cc/NatGeo

## Caption

Photo by Matthieu Paley @paleyphoto / “My pigeon needs to feel the love as much as I do.” Raja Baba is one of the many Sufi believers who recently walked 180 kilometers (112 mi) for a yearly pilgrimage, in extreme heat, across the desert and mountains of south Pakistan. He keeps pigeons back home and took a few on the road with him, which surprised me. A pigeon pilgrim… I wanted to photograph that! We went for a stroll behind a shrine in a cemetery where pilgrims have been buried over the hundreds of years since this pilgrimage began. His pigeon flew around, always staying close. Raja’s necklace reads Lal Shahbaz Qalander in Urdu, which translates to “the red falcon wanderer,” in reference to one of Pakistan's Sufi saints. For more insights into our world, follow @paleyphoto #pilgrimage #pilgrim #sufism #lalshahbazqalander @insidenatgeo

## Stats

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- **Likes:** 184,016
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- **Comments:** 612

## Tags

pilgrim, pilgrimage, lalshahbazqalander, sufism

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