October 25 2006 - Nithyanandapedia

Nithyanandapedia

October 25 2006

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A photograph of an outdoor homa or yagna under a corrugated metal roof strung with banana leaves and unripe green bananas across a doorway arch. A sacred fire burns on a low platform in the centre. Two priests in orange-saffron shawls sit before it at the fire, one in the foreground tending the flames. Behind them, several men in white dhotis and shirts stand and sit, and a seated audience of devotees, including women in saris and older people, faces the fire from the lower foreground. Electric lights glow in the background hall. Two priests are seated at the fire; one saffron-shawled priest looks like a candidate but appearance is uncertain.

Night ritual in an outdoor courtyard with a lit fire pit at the centre, surrounded by yellow-painted brick or wooden platforms heaped with flowers, fruit, brass lamps and garlands. Several priests sit cross-legged in white dhotis and bare upper bodies with rudraksha malas, one wearing an orange turban and a yellow-headed man beside him. Smoke drifts through beams of light. Behind them, a standing figure in white robes and a flower garland is seen at the right edge, and more white-clad attendants and devotees move between poles and offerings. This appears to be a homa or yagna with offerings around the fire.

Night photograph of a ritual pavilion of palm fronds and bamboo, hung with orange and green triangular bunting and marigold garlands. Several people in white and saffron-orange robes sit on the ground around small fire pits made of stacked bricks, where homa flames rise. A seated figure in the foreground wears an orange shawl and tends a fire. Further back, a row of white-clad participants sits before a draped backdrop under electric lights, a yagna-style fire ritual in progress.

September 09 2016

December 02 2016

Night outdoor ritual on a riverside ghat beside a brick-lined fire pit with bright flames, a silver trident standing upright at left, and brass vessels, a kalasha-style pot and red flower offerings in front. A figure in orange-saffron shawl with long dark hair and gold ornaments sits at left tending the fire. Several men in white dhotis and bare or red-banded heads, some with red or orange cloths and rudraksha, sit beside the fire and handle offerings. A large audience of many devotees in white and red clothes sits on the steps behind, with a cameraman and bright floodlights lit against the dark. Smoke drifts across the scene. Dress and fire suggest a homa-style ceremony, and the orange-clad figure cannot be confirmed as a person from appearance alone.

A homa or yagna ritual is performed in an open pavilion decorated with banana plants and leaf garlands strung overhead. Smoke rises from a central fire pit. Several people in orange and saffron robes sit cross-legged around it, with one saffron-clad man in the centre wearing a white tilak and a rudraksha mala, seated behind the pit. Seated devotees in orange clothing face the altar. A younger woman in a white sari with gold border sits in the foreground beside a brass oil lamp with a bright flame. Brass vessels, a brass lamp, fruit, flowers, and woven baskets with offerings fill the altar to the right. People in white and yellow stand and sit at the edges, and a woman with long hair appears in the back of the group.

Night-time outdoor homa at a raised yellow-brown fire pit with a burning fire of wood and dry straw. A bald man in saffron-orange robes sits at the centre, speaking into a microphone on a stand. Around him, several people in white and orange-saffron clothes sit cross-legged on cloth mats, many wearing rudraksha malas and red-orange shawls. To the right, a man in white dhoti with gold border and a pink-red headwrap sits with hands folded near brass and copper pots, lamps and fruit offerings. Two women in deep red-brown clothes with rudraksha malas sit at left, one writing in a notebook. A large crowd of devotees in white and saffron fills the background, seated on the ground under a dark sky, with a small shrine and a standing deity murti at the top rear.

Night-time outdoor homa at an ashram, with two fire pits burning amid heaps of marigold and rose flowers, banana leaves, fruit, coconuts and brass vessels. Several bare-chested men in white dhotis and orange or saffron cloths sit around the fire pits and offerings, one wearing a saffron head-wrap and a rudraksha mala. Behind them, more men in white dhotis and white shirts stand near a raised platform, and a bare-chested man in an orange cloth holds up an offering. Smoke drifts through strings of lights and trees in the background.

May 25 2017

A homa fire burns in a raised, yellow-painted fire pit decorated with yellow and orange marigold flowers and white kolam lines, under a corrugated roof hung with coloured tassels. Several priests sit cross-legged behind the fire: a bare-chested man at left in orange cloth, a central priest with a pink turban, white dhoti and a large floral garland, and others in white dhotis and orange shawls, one pouring from a basket. Around them, a large seated crowd of mostly bare-chested young men in white dhotis, some wearing orange rudraksha-style mala necklaces, sits on colourful striped mats. Brass vessels, fruit and flowers sit at the right edge, and red-walled buildings and palm trees stand behind. The central figure is a priest conducting the homa rather than a clearly identifiable a person.

Night outdoor ritual at a large open-air ceremony under white canopy and stage lights. Dense crowd of devotees, mostly men and women in white dhotis and white saris with gold borders, sit on the ground in rows. A bare-chested man in an orange cloth stands in the centre holding a leafy stalk aloft, and several people in saffron or orange and teal clothing move among the crowd. A woman in a teal and white sari kneels with hands together near a child in a white top and jeans. Behind them a decorated stage with red and white draping, a small kalasha, and a backdrop of lit panels. A figure seated at the far right in white is partly visible; no identity can be confirmed from appearance, so no a person candidate is asserted. Banners in blue and yellow frame the back of the grounds.