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Night ritual scene outdoors under a temporary canopy, with smoke rising from a fire pit at centre. A bare-chested man with a yellow head-cloth and a garland sits before the fire, with a brass vessel and a kalasha-like pot nearby. Men in white dhotis, some bare-chested, and a woman in an orange sari are seated and standing around low yellow brick platforms heaped with flower garlands, red flowers, fruit, leaves and ritual items. An older bald man in white dhoti tends the offerings at right. Strings of marigolds and ribbons decorate the altar, and bright floodlights light the scene.

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May 10 20172017-05-10May 10 20172017-05-10Night outdoor ritual under a corrugated roof at Nithyananda Peetham, Tiruvannamalai. Several priests in white dhotis sit or kneel at long low tables lined with brass vessels, banana leaves, flower garlands, fruit baskets and yellow-and-red packets. A smoking fire pit in the centre suggests a homa or yagna. A shirtless man in a white dhoti and orange shawl bends over the offerings at right, while a shirtless devotee with long hair and beads sits at lower right. Behind them, a golden-framed throne-like seat and flower-decorated altar stand beside a row of seated and standing white-clad participants under floodlights and trees.2017-05-10Night-time ritual outdoors under trees, with smoke rising and string lights overhead. In the foreground, a bare-chested priest in a white dhoti with a yellow-green cloth on his shoulder sits before a low wooden platform loaded with garlands of white and red flowers, ribboned pots, brass vessels, and heaped offerings of red and orange fruit. Behind him, several men in white dhotis and orange-robed devotees tend the offerings, and a shirtless man in a white dhoti stands at the right beside a steel railing. In the background a figure in an orange garment stands near a raised shrine with a deity murti decorated in garlands, amid scattered flowers and leaves on the sandy ground.2017-05-10Night ritual at an open-air outdoor shrine with a long row of seated priests performing puja before tiered offerings of fruit, flowers and small kalasha-style vessels on banana leaves and low brick platforms. A man in the foreground sits with bare chest, white dhoti and orange cloth, a dark-haired young man with long matted hair and rudraksha mala looks over his shoulder. Smoke rises from the left, bright lights hang overhead, and a gilded ornate peetham or throne with orange drapery and flower garlands sits at the left edge. Standing devotees in white dhotis and shirts stand in the background near a metal railing, and a deity murti is visible at the right.2017-05-10May 10 20172017-05-10May 10 20172017-05-10May 10 20172017-05-10Night ritual under an open corrugated-roof shelter lit by bright floodlights, with smoke rising from a central fire pit. Priests in white dhotis, some bare-chested with sacred threads, perform a homa or puja over a long row of decorated kalasha pots wrapped in purple and white ribbons, banana-leaf offerings, yellow sweets, fruit and flower garlands. A figure in a saffron cloth with a red-orange turban stands at the table's far end, and a long-haired figure in saffron sits at the lower right. Behind them, many white-clad people stand under the trees, and at the right a golden ornate palanquin-style throne or deity frame is visible near a metal railing.2017-05-10May 10 20172017-05-10Night outdoor fire ritual. Several men in white dhotis and orange or saffron cloths sit on the ground tending the fire; one man in a yellow headcloth and a rudraksha-style mala pours from a ladle, and another in an orange turban sits in the foreground. Smoke drifts through the scene and people in white and orange stand behind the altars under trees.2017-05-10Night-time outdoor homa or fire ritual at an ashram ground under trees, with smoke rising among several yagna pits. Priests in white dhotis and bare-chested devotees with rudraksha malas and saffron cloths tend the fire pits, which are decorated with flower garlands, purple-and-white ribbons, fruit, brass vessels and kalasha pots. A bare-chested man in front wears a yellow headband and a gold-looking necklace, holding a small bowl. Behind, a priest in white stands near a raised platform with a deity murti and an orange-clothed figure. Fluorescent lights and a metal railing frame the scene.2017-05-10