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Women in colourful saris prepare a Pongal offering at an open-air outdoor setting. A clay pot filled with boiling milk sits on a brick hearth over a small fire, garlanded with yellow marigolds and red flowers. Sugarcane stalks tied with leaves frame the pot, and a flower ring surrounds the brick stove on the bare ground. A woman in a purple and gold sari holds a brass vessel, while another in a maroon sari with green border stirs or tends the pot. Other women in orange and blue saris stand behind, and a cameraman on a tripod is visible at right. Red cloth covers the floor nearby.

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A Pongal celebration at an open-air pavilion with a sandy floor decorated with white kolam rangoli designs. A woman in a teal blue sari with gold blouse pours milk from a brass vessel into a clay pot placed over a brick fireplace where flames burn; the pot is wreathed with yellow flower garlands and decorated with white painted patterns. Sugarcane stalks are tied over the pots. Beside her, another fire burns in a brick hearth ringed by marigold garlands, with a second pot. Surrounding women wear red, maroon, pink and orange saris and white clothing, and several robed sannyasis in saffron and orange stand on the right, one holding a camera. Bundles of firewood and a red mat lie on the ground.2018-01-14Outdoor Pongal celebration under a shaded tin roof at a rural ashram. Women in saffron and red saris and a teal sari stand on a red carpet and kolam-decorated ground while a woman in a teal sari pours milk from a brass vessel into a clay pot boiling over a brick fire. Marigold garlands are wound around the pots and the hearth, and sugarcane stalks stand beside them. Another clay pot boils over a second hearth to the right, and a cameraman in saffron robes with a rudraksha mala films at the right edge. Rangoli patterns cover the floor.2018-01-14January 14 20182018-01-14January 14 20182018-01-14January 14 20182018-01-14Pongal cooking ritual outdoors: a clay pot filled with milk and rice boils over a small wood fire set on stacked yellow bricks, ringed by yellow and red marigold garlands and white kolam lines on the ground. Sugarcane stalks with leaves frame the pot. Women in saris, one in a red blouse with green sari and one in a purple sari, pour milk or rice from brass vessels into the pot. A cameraman with a tripod stands at right. Several other women in orange and red saris and a man in white dhoti with gold border watch nearby.2018-01-14Outdoor Pongal ritual at the Tiruvannamalai Adheenam under a shaded canopy. Two clay pots decorated with white painted patterns and garlanded with yellow and red flowers sit on brick hearths, with flames rising from the pot bases. Sugarcane stalks tied with leaves form tripods over each pot. A woman in a rust-brown sari leans in to tend the fire at left, while a woman in a pink-and-green sari kneels at the fire. Other women in orange, red, purple and blue saris stand and kneel on red mats and a white kolam floor design, with a few in white and orange nearby. A chair with red upholstery is visible in the background.2018-01-14A Pongal ritual outdoors under a thatched shelter where a shaved-headed priest in saffron-orange cloth stands bare-chested with sandalwood markings, facing two clay pots decorated with white patterns and garlanded with yellow and red flowers. Fire burns from a pot set on bricks, with sugarcane stalks tied into a frame above. Women in red, orange, pink and green saris stand around with hands joined, one holding a vessel, while seated women in orange and saffron sit on a red mat in the background.2018-01-14January 14 20172017-01-14Pongal cooking ritual outdoors under a pavilion: two clay pots decorated with white painted patterns sit on brick hearths ringed with marigold garlands and white kolam designs on the ground. Sugarcane stalks with leaves tied overhead frame the pots. A woman in a pink blouse and green-and-gold sari kneels and tends a flame beneath one pot, while a woman in a rust-brown sari stands at left smiling. Behind them, women in orange, purple and yellow saris stand on red mats and a woman in white sits, watching.2018-01-14Photograph of a Pongal cooking ceremony outdoors on a red earth floor. A large earthen pot with boiling milk and rice, decorated with yellow marigolds and red roses, sits over a small wood fire on yellow mud bricks. Sugarcane stalks with leaves stand around the pot, and a yellow and red flower garland encircles the hearth. Two women in saris lean over the pot: one in a purple and orange sari holds a brass vessel, and another in a green and maroon sari with gold bangles stirs or adds offerings. Other women in orange and saffron saris stand behind, and a person in white dhoti is partly visible at right near a tripod.2018-01-14January 14 20182018-01-14