April 03 2016 - Nithyanandapedia

Nithyanandapedia

April 03 2016

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April 28 2017

A night-time homa fire ceremony in an open courtyard. A large wooden fire pit with a tiered, white-patterned base is ablaze, decorated with marigold flowers. A shirtless priest stands behind it, wearing a white dhoti and a long beaded necklace. Seated on a silver-edged platform to the right is a woman in a pink head wrap, a white sari with orange border and a long beaded garland, offering into the fire. Beside her a man in an orange shawl and orange-trimmed garland sits near brass vessels and offering bowls. Rows of seated devotees in white and saffron clothing fill a colourful striped mat behind them, and a dark deity murti stands in the background. Brass lamps and bowls rest on the foreground ground.

Night homa ritual at an open-air fire pit with a square yellow-painted altar edged in white dots. A priest in orange robe and orange turban pours an offering from a metal bowl onto the flames, with a bright burst of sparks. Behind the fire, a woman in orange sari and a bare-chested man with a rudraksha mala sit near offerings of bananas, leaves and grain. Around them, a large crowd of seated devotees in white dhotis and shirts watches, and a cloth-wrapped figure kneels at the left edge. Red-walled buildings and a temple-like structure stand in the background.

October 27 2014

Outdoor fire ritual at dusk: a large square fire pit with a tall flame stands in the foreground, decorated with white kolam-style dots and scattered pink flower petals. A bearded priest with a shaved-headed, long-haired appearance wears an ornate red garment and a long beaded garland, holding an open book and gesturing with one hand. Beside him a man in white dhoti sits and tends the fire, and another man in white sits to the right above trays of coconuts, betel leaves, fruit, puffed grains, pink flowers and brass vessels. About a dozen seated devotees in white clothes with red sashes sit on striped mats in the background, and a woman in an orange sari stands at the right edge.

December 31 2011

A night homa fire rises from a stepped stone fire pit in an open courtyard strung with leafy banana-leaf garlands. Two priests stand at the fire: the nearer one wears a white dhoti and a saffron-yellow turban, carries a brass plate of offerings, and wears a beaded rudraksha-style mala; the other, bald and bare-chested, wears a white dhoti and mala and holds offerings over the flames. A seated priest in white with a mala is in the lower left foreground. Round brass kalasha pots, brass lamps, flower petals and a large carved wooden drum-shaped disc sit around the fire. Seated devotees in white and orange clothing watch from the left, and more people stand in the background.

2010-10-16 +1 copies

A photograph of an outdoor homa fire ceremony at dusk on a striped woven mat. A shaved-headed priest in orange-saffron robes and a saffron shawl sits at right, pouring an offering from a metal vessel toward a square stone fire pit with a bright flame. Brass and steel ritual vessels, a small bowl and lamps sit on the mat, and three orange-draped kalasha pots with green leaves and netting are arranged in front. Seated devotees in white and red shawls, with lanyards, watch from the background, some with hands folded. A deity mural and a seated statue are visible behind. Whether the priest is a person cannot be determined from appearance.

September 17 2017

2017-09-17 +1 copies

Night-time homa at an outdoor ritual area: a wooden fire pit with flames, decorated with marigold flowers, stands in the foreground. Behind it, a priest in orange cloth with a rudraksha-style necklace and a pink-and-orange turban sits and tends the fire with a ladle, while a bare-chested assistant with marigold garlands sits to the right. A man in white with a green-and-gold shawl stands at the far right holding a tray of flowers. A large seated congregation in white and red shawls fills the background, with brass vessels and coconut offerings in the lower right.

2016-02-22 +1 copies

A night homa at an outdoor square: a raised wooden fire pit with bright flames sits in the foreground. Around it, about eight men in saffron-maroon robes and rudraksha malas sit cross-legged, several holding books or ritual items. On the right, a man in maroon robes and white flower garlands sits on a cushioned seat holding a metal tray. Behind them a large crowd in white and saffron clothing sits in rows, with a bronze deity murti and a carved temple structure in the background, plus kalasha-style vessels and small oil lamps on carpets in front.

April 03 2016