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Outdoor cremation ceremony on a reddish-brown earth clearing at KAILASA in Tiruvannamalai. A stacked wood pyre with flames and heavy smoke sits on a brick base, with yellow flower petals laid in front. A man in white dhoti and shirt bends forward to tend the fire with a long stick, while another man in white kurta stands beside him. On the left, a figure in saffron-orange robes stands with a shaved head, and a woman in orange sari sits near the pyre. Seated mourners in white clothing fill the grass, with buses and cars parked behind them and wooded hills in the background. Faint pink ritual powder marks the ground near the pyre.

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November 14 20052005-11-14Outdoor cremation pyre on red earth in an open field near hills, smoke rising. A man in a white shirt and white dhoti leans forward holding a long pole to stoke the fire. Beside him stands a shaved-headed man in an orange-saffron cloth draped over his shoulder, bare-chested, watching the pyre. Behind them, many people in white clothes sit on the grass, and several vans and cars are parked under a hazy sky. A small colourful canopy stands at left. The scene is a funeral cremation with mourners, and the surrounding vehicles suggest a large gathering.2005-11-14November 14 20052005-11-14Outdoor cremation pyre on red earth with a large plume of smoke rising to the right. A man in a white dhoti and shirt bends to place an offering near the base of the wood stack, while another man in white stands beside him and a woman in an orange sari and a man in white stand nearby. Yellow flower petals lie at the foot of the pyre. Behind them, a row of people in white sit on grass and mats, a white van and cars are parked, and a green hill rises in the background under a pale sky. Several figures in white are seated or kneeling in the distance.2005-11-14Outdoor cremation pyre on red earth with a grassy area beside it. A man in white dhoti and shirt stands at left, poking the burning wood stack with a long pole, while another man in white stands nearby. A tall pile of logs is burning with smoke rising, set on brick bases with yellow flower offerings laid at its foot. To the right, several seated people in orange and saffron robes sit in a row on the grass, and other people in white clothes sit nearby. Vehicles and a green hillside sit in the background under a hazy sky.2005-11-14Outdoor cremation pyre on grass with a large plume of white smoke rising to the right. A man in white dhoti and shirt stands at left, holding a long stick toward the burning logs. Beside him a figure in orange robes and a saffron shawl sits near the fire, wearing an orange-beaded necklace; the figure's face is partly hidden by smoke, and the figure's identity is not established from appearance. Behind them, a crowd of men in white clothes sits on the grass, with buses, vans and cars parked beyond and green hills in the background. A man in white bends over at lower right near the pyre.2005-11-14November 14 20052005-11-14Outdoor cremation pyre on a red earth clearing with hills and parked vans behind. A man in an orange-saffron dhoti and shawl stands at left, holding a tray of offerings. A barefoot man in white dhoti and shirt stands beside the pyre, placing wood on the fire. A woman in orange sari sits near the pyre, and white-clad mourners sit on grass to the left. Smoke rises from the wood stack with marigold petals scattered on the ground. No one is identifiable as a person by the cues in this image; the orange-clad figure has no distinctive presentation markers visible.2005-11-14Outdoor cremation pyre on red earth with a large stacked wood pile and rising smoke, marigold petals and flowers at its base. Several men in white dhotis and white shirts stand around it; one man in white holds a long torch or stick near the flames while another in white lifts a vessel. A woman in orange clothing stands among them. Behind, many people sit on grass in white clothes, with white vehicles parked at the left and green hills in the distance.2005-11-14Outdoor cremation pyre on bare red earth at a rural open ground with parked white vans and a hillside behind. Several men in white dhotis and white shirts tend a wood pyre of logs and bricks, with smoke rising heavily to the right; a body wrapped in white cloth lies atop the pyre. A woman in an orange sari stands at the back of the pyre with hands folded. Behind them a seated crowd in white and light clothing watches under a small striped canopy at left, and marigold petals lie at the base of the pyre.2005-11-14November 14 20052005-11-14November 14 20052005-11-14