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A large tented ritual hall lit by overhead lamps and hung with strings of colourful paper lanterns. A man seated on a gold-and-red throne at the centre wears a red turban, a long rudraksha mala and a red shawl; a tall parasol-like canopy stands behind him. In front of him, several priests sit on the floor behind a red-draped low table, bare-chested with saffron and yellow cloths and white dhotis, performing puja. The table holds brass plates of sliced fruit, flowers, betel leaves, coconuts, a brass lamp and a tall brass stand. Garlands of red and yellow flowers decorate a silver-coloured deity figure on the left. Several hundred devotees, many in white and pastel saris, sit in rows on the floor facing the throne. Incense smoke drifts through the hall.

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December 07 20162016-12-07December 07 20162016-12-07December 07 20162016-12-07A wide photograph of a large tented ritual hall during an evening puja. Hanging colourful tassel decorations and lamps fill the white canopy. In the centre, a red-draped platform holds banana leaf plates of offerings, fruit trays, a brass oil lamp and a kalasha-like vessel. Priests in white dhotis and saffron-coloured cloth stand and sit around it, one holding a ritual object. A seated figure on a golden throne-like seat at the back is wearing a white garment with flower garlands and a red-brown shawl. Hundreds of seated devotees, many bare-chested in white and orange, fill the floor on the right. A camera on a crane overlooks the scene.2016-12-07A large white tented pavilion hung with colourful tassel decorations and paper lanterns during an evening puja. On a red-draped platform in the foreground, priests in white dhotis and bare upper bodies stand and sit around offerings, including plantain-leaf plates of cooked dishes, fruits, a brass oil lamp and a metal drum. A priest at left in white clothes holds up an object near a decorated altar with flower garlands. Behind, a raised golden throne with a canopy sits at the front of a seated congregation of many devotees, mostly men in white and some women in saris. A film camera on a boom arm is visible at right.2016-12-07December 07 20162016-12-07December 07 20162016-12-07 +1 copiesDecember 07 20162016-12-07December 07 20162016-12-07A tented hall during a homa fire ritual. A bearded man in a red-brown robe with a garland of white flowers sits on an ornate golden throne with a red cushion under a striped canopy. A priest in white dhoti stands at left. In the foreground a priest in a saffron-yellow shawl and rudraksha mala feeds offerings into a wooden fire pit with visible flames, while another priest in white sits beside it. Baskets of fruit, plantains, coconuts and bundled twigs sit on the red floor. Hundreds of seated devotees, many in white and colourful saris, fill the hall beneath hanging paper lanterns and flags. Decorations and a golden backdrop frame the scene.2016-12-07Night-time ritual inside a white tented pavilion with hanging paper lanterns in pink, orange and yellow. In the foreground, several shaved-headed priests in white and orange dhotis sit cross-legged on red mats, one with a yellow shawl, facing a large ornate golden altar. Before them is a decorated golden kalasha-style structure draped with red and white flower garlands, with brass lamps, fruit trays, banana leaves and plates of offerings. Behind, a seated figure in a deep red robe with a rudraksha mala and a golden crown-like headdress sits on a gold-and-red throne, with an attendant beside him. Devotees fill the rows on the right, and a screen shows a video.2016-12-07December 07 20162016-12-07