Skip to content
Nithyanandapedia
A temple ritual photograph. In the foreground, an elderly priest with white-painted forehead marks, wearing a pink shawl and orange-yellow dhoti, extends his right arm to pass an oil lamp or flame over a small offering. Opposite him, a younger shirtless man in a white dhoti with a striped border bows forward and holds a brass lamp. Behind them sits a third man in a green cap with rudraksha-style beads and a red-and-white garland, seated on the floor. Before them lie a stone slab, a small kalasha with flower garlands, brass plates, marigolds and rose petals. Behind the ritual scene stand large deity murtis draped in yellow and white garments, adorned with gold crowns, jewellery and red-and-yellow garlands, against a gold-arched shrine with pink backdrop.

More like this

Open the gallery
A temple ritual photograph in a shrine decorated with marigold garlands. In the centre, a bare-chested priest in a white dhoti with a striped border stands with his back to the camera, holding a small bell, facing the deity murti. Beside him, a man in an orange-yellow dhoti kneels at the front. On the right, a seated priest in a green turban and white clothing performs puja with offerings. Several deity murtis dressed in yellow and orange garments and garlands stand on a raised dais, with a decorated silver lamp stand at left. Brass vessels, banana leaves, flowers and a wooden platter of sweets sit on the floor in front of them.2013-07-18A photograph of a ritual inside a temple hall decorated with colourful flower garlands and gold-ornamented shrines. In the centre, a golden deity murti seated on a throne is adorned with a garland, and a smaller figure sits beside it. In front, a fire burns in a brick-built fire pit with offerings and dishes arranged on the floor. A bare-chested man in a white dhoti with a cord sits and tends the fire, while another shirtless man in a white dhoti stands behind him. A standing man in white and orange clothing wearing a flower garland and a saffron-coloured cap assists nearby. A woman seated on the left wears a yellow sari with a purple border and a pink shawl, her back to the camera, and a man in a white dhoti stands on the right. Brass vessels, bowls of rice, petals and banana leaves lie on the floor.2013-07-18July 18 20132013-07-18A photograph of a temple puja inside a richly decorated shrine with gold arches and a pink backdrop. A priest with a bare upper body and a yellow dhoti with a patterned border stands at left, extending his arm toward a flame. Two deity murtis dressed in yellow and white silk, adorned with gold jewellery and flower garlands, sit on a raised platform. Two seated men in white dhotis and green turbans wear garlands, and a standing attendant in a white dhoti holds a tall silver lamp stand. Flower petals, brass vessels, fruits and a kalasha are arranged on the floor, with a microphone at left.2013-07-18A temple puja at a deity shrine decorated with marigold and multicoloured flower garlands. Two gilded deity murtis with crowns and jewelled necklaces sit on a yellow-and-blue dais under a pink curtain. In the foreground a bare-chested priest in a yellow dhoti and white upper cloth holds a lit lamp aloft toward the deities. To the right, a devotee with folded hands and a man in white dhoti stand near the offerings, which include brass bowls, fruit, a coconut, a kalasha and banana-leaf trays of flower petals. Brick-like stone platforms hold the offering arrangement.2013-07-18July 18 20132013-07-18July 18 20132013-07-18Temple puja scene before ornately decorated deity murtis dressed in gold and white garments and heavy garlands of red, orange and yellow flowers. A priest with a shaved head and bare upper body, wearing a yellow dhoti with a patterned border, raises a ritual object toward the deities. To the right, a bare-chested attendant in a white dhoti stands beside a tall silver lamp stand draped with flower garlands. A man in a green turban and white clothes, garlanded, sits at right near brass vessels, fruit and flower offerings on the floor. Brass oil lamps, kalasha-like vessels and petals are arranged before the altar, with a red-draped shrine behind.2013-07-18November 01 20112011-11-01July 18 20132013-07-18A temple-style ritual in a hall decorated with garlands. On the left, an elderly priest with white hair and an orange-yellow dhoti holds up a lit lamp in a tall silver lamp stand. Behind him, a seated man in orange robes and another in white sit near a microphone. On the right, a golden throne and deity figures draped in marigold and multicolored garlands stand beside a gold-framed alcove with pink backdrop. In the foreground, a shirtless man in a white dhoti bends over a flower-strewn floor before a plate of offerings, while a seated man in a green cap and gold-trimmed cloth sits on a low wooden stool. Sweets stacked on a tray sit at lower left, and rose petals are scattered on the floor.2013-07-18A homa or yagna ritual on a raised platform. Two priests in white dhoti and an older man with white hair and vertical white tilak stand over a square fire pit of stacked bricks, one pouring an offering from a steel bowl. A second younger man in saffron-orange dhoti and a bare chest with a sacred thread leans forward beside them. Brass kalasha pots wrapped in red and pink fabric, coconuts, mango leaves, white jasmine garlands and yellow and red marigolds, small cones of grain and brass bowls of offerings fill the table. Behind them, devotees in white sit on red mats in a bright hall, and a man in white dhoti with a microphone sits at right.2013-07-18