October 19 2015 - Nithyanandapedia

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October 19 2015

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October 19 2015

Outdoor fire ritual (homa) at night. A tiered yellow brick altar with a blazing fire at its top is decorated with red flower petals and a white powder dusting. Four men in front sit on a green mat: the man at left in an orange shawl and beaded necklaces speaks into a microphone, a man in the center wears a teal cloth and a mala, a man next to him wears an orange shawl and a mala, and a bare-chested man at right wears a red-and-pink shawl and white dhoti. Brass oil lamps, a kalasha-style vessel, bananas, fruit and flower offerings sit on the mat. Behind them rows of seated devotees in white and red garments fill the space, with a painted deity murti at upper left.

October 19 2015

Close view of a homa fire pit lined with reddish-brown bricks, flames rising from the centre. A seated figure in a red and maroon cloth and wearing beaded necklaces and rudraksha-style malas pours liquid from a long-handled ladle into a silver bowl near the fire. A coconut and a small brass vessel sit on the brick platform, and blurred people in white clothes sit in the background. Offerings and a homa ritual are visible.

July 02 2016

2016-07-02 +1 copies

A photograph of a fire ritual (homa/yagna) in a temple hall. Two shirtless men with rudraksha malas sit before a square brick fire pit with a bright flame. The central man wears a maroon turban, a white dhoti and a striped shawl, and holds a ritual implement over the fire. A younger man beside him sits with a mala. At the right, a man in a white dhoti with a yellow-green cloth bends forward holding a small bell-like vessel. Yellow and orange flower garlands and marigolds surround the pit, and orange-clothed figures stand in the background with a golden ornate structure behind them. The a person-attribution is not visibly supported by appearance.

February 20 2016

2016-02-20 +1 copies

A homa fire ritual in progress. In the foreground a bare-chested priest in white dhoti with a gold-and-green cloth wrap and a yellow turban-style headwrap, wearing a gold beaded necklace, holds a ritual stick over a brass bowl. Beside him a younger man with a green-bordered cloth and rudraksha-style beaded string offers into the flames. A large fire burns on a bed of yellow bricks sprinkled with white powder and pink flower petals. Behind them, seated devotees in white clothes with red shawls and vibhuti tilak on their foreheads watch and participate.

A homa fire ritual in progress. A brick-lined fire pit holds flaming wood and ash at the bottom centre. A man in orange cloth sits cross-legged at the front right, pouring from a small vessel into the fire. Behind the fire, a seated man in a long orange robe with a bare upper body and a wide crimson-and-gold sash, adorned with a large gold pendant and a rudraksha-style necklace, sits with hands together. Beside him a man in a purple cloth and ochre dhoti is seated, and further back a man in white stands. On the right, brass lamps, a metal pot and rows of small white packets are arranged on shelves. Woven striped mats in red, green and blue cover the floor.

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.

A homa fire pit lined with yellow brick, with flames rising from burning wood and offerings of seeds and red petals, is the centre of the scene. A man in orange robes and a rudraksha mala sits cross-legged at the fire and tends the flames with a ladle. Beside him, a man in a plain orange cloth and a purple shawl kneels and tends the fire, and a seated man in orange robes with a gold necklace and a gold garland watches. Behind them, priests in white dhotis and orange cloths attend a row of small white lamps and a brass lamp stand, and a shelf of carved deity and animal figures is visible on the right. A central figure in orange robes, with long grey hair, sits calmly with hands folded. The scene appears to be a ritual homa in progress at an outdoor setup with a colourful striped mat.

September 19 2015