Skip to content
Nithyanandapedia
Night outdoor aarti at a Tiruvannamalai ashram ground. Two priests in white dhotis stand at the front holding lit oil lamps aloft; the nearer priest, bare-chested with a white and red-bordered shawl over his shoulder, lifts a flaming lamp in one hand and a small bell in the other. Several gold ritual lamps and brass vessels rest on a platform before them. A large seated crowl of devotees in white clothes fills the ground, with string lights and a few street lamps glowing in the dark background.

More like this

Open the gallery
Night ritual gathering in an open outdoor courtyard at Tiruvannamalai Adheenam. Three priests stand in front of a large seated crowd. The nearest priest on the right is bald and bare-chested, wearing a white dhoti-style cloth with red and maroon borders, holding a brass bell and a lit flame. The middle priest wears a white cloth with a yellow-orange border and holds a flaming lamp, while another white-clad attendant on the left also holds a small flame. Brass lamps and ritual vessels sit on the ground in front, and many devotees in white clothes sit in rows under a dark tree canopy, lit by a floodlight and a string of small lights.2011-04-17April 17 20112011-04-17April 17 20112011-04-17April 17 20112011-04-17Night outdoor ceremony at Tiruvannamalai Adheenam with a large seated crowd filling the foreground. Several shaven-headed priests in white dhotis, some bare-chested with sacred ash marks, stand on a raised platform holding flaming oil lamps and aarti plates, a row of small lamps glowing along the back. Devotees in white and colourful saris sit with hands folded in namaskar. A street lamp glows at left and a white rope runs across the scene. Ritual aarti being performed at dusk.2011-04-17April 17 20112011-04-17April 17 20112011-04-17Night-time outdoor ritual photograph in which three priests in white dhotis and white shawls stand in a row on a raised platform, holding lit flames or oil lamps aloft. Brass ritual vessels and bells sit on the ground in front of them, and a large crowd of people dressed in white is seated in the darkness beyond. A single street lamp and a string of small lights mark the edge of the gathering. The scene appears to be an evening puja or aarti.2011-04-17April 17 20112011-04-17Night photo of an outdoor aarti at Tiruvannamalai. Two priests in white dhotis and shoulder cloths, one with a red-bordered cloth and a bare upper torso, raise oil lamps and a brass lamp stand with flames toward the dark sky. A row of brass vessels and lamps sits on a mat beside them. Behind them a large seated crowd in white clothes faces the stage, with string lights and white pillars at the left edge. Two women in the foreground have flowers in their hair.2011-04-17Night outdoor ceremony at a temple-like open courtyard lit by a few electric lamps and a string of small lights. Two priests in white dhotis and shawls with red-bordered cloth stand at the right and centre, each holding a lit brass aarti lamp aloft, a classic aarti offering. The foreground priest is bare-chested with white and red sacred marks on his arm. Rows of white-clad seated devotees fill the right and background, with a large crowd beyond. Along the left, a raised platform with white pillars holds garlanded deity murtis and a row of offerings. Dark trees form the backdrop, and a small lit oil lamp sits on the ground in front of the platform.2011-04-17Night photograph of an outdoor temple ritual at Tiruvannamalai Adheenam. A priest in white dhoti and shawl stands at the right holding a lit aarti lamp raised in one hand, with a second white-clad priest behind him beside small lit oil lamps and flower offerings on the ground. Rows of seated devotees fill the dark courtyard on both sides, and tall white pillars with street lamps line the left side under strings of small lights.2011-04-17