Skip to content
Outdoor photograph of a shirtless male performer balancing on one leg atop a tall wooden mallakhamba pole, arms extended, wearing black and green patterned shorts and a thin necklace. Two shirtless assistants steady the pole from below, one with a white cord around his neck. The pole stands before a large ornate gold throne-like structure with carved scrollwork and a lattice panel. At lower left, a painted portrait shows a bearded man in a saffron turban and pink garment, a figure resembling a devotee of the event, but no appearance-based cues for Swamiji are clear. Spectators fill the lower foreground with raised hands. Gold metal arches frame the upper corners under a cloudy sky.