Outdoors on a sandy beach under a pale blue sky, a ritual is underway. A central man sits cross-legged with palms pressed together in namaskar, wearing a rust-red robe, a dense rudraksha mala across his chest, bangles and a tilak on his forehead; long dark hair falls to his shoulders. Around him, bare-chested men in white dhotis and saffron cloths sit or stand, one holding a brass pot and another arranging a plate of flowers and fruit with a red offering on sand dusted with turmeric. A man in a saffron-yellow dhoti stands with hands folded, and a cameraman with a video camera sits at left. Scattered flower petals and offerings lie on the sand.