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Evening photograph of a devotional ritual in a crowd. In the foreground, a shaved-headed young man in white dhoti and shawl, bare-chested, wears a rudraksha mala and a small hoop earring, with white vibhuti marks on his forehead and shoulder. He stands with hands raised over a brass aarti lamp with a bright flame held by a man in a white shirt. Behind them, men in white and checked shirts crowd the scene, and garlanded deity murti or decorated figures appear at the upper right with jasmine garlands and draped cloth. A small brass bell hangs from the lamp stand.

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July 01 20142014-07-01July 01 20142014-07-01July 15 20112011-07-15December 12 20162016-12-12December 09 20112011-12-09July 29 20132013-07-29Night ritual at an outdoor temple-style gathering. In the left foreground a shaved-headed man in a white dhoti with a yellow-bordered cloth and a rudraksha mala holds a silver lamp (kalasha-style vessel) with a large flame, while a crowd of devotees behind raises hands in prayer and reaches toward the fire. A large terracotta pot or fire vessel stands at right with smoke rising. Streetlights glow in the background. Devotees wear white and bright saris and bangles. Appears to be a fire offering or aarti.2011-04-17Night ritual photo at a temple-like setting. In the foreground, a man in a rust-orange dhoti and shawl with white flower garlands and a red-and-green garland bows with hands pressed to his forehead. Beside him, an elderly bald man in orange robes, a red-and-white rudraksha headband and a white garland receives aarti from a man in white holding a brass lamp with flaming wicks. Behind them, devotees in white and saffron stand watching, and a bald man on the right wears orange clothing and a white forehead mark. The scene suggests an aarti or honouring ceremony with a crowd of devotees. a person's presence is not clearly identifiable from appearance.2012-06-05A shaven-headed priest in white dhoti, bare-shouldered, with white vertical tilak marks on his forehead and arms and a gold-and-bead necklace, lifts a silver aarti lamp with a lit flame in his right hand. Behind him a bearded man in white clothes holds a silver ornate lamp stand, and on the right a young man in white with a gold chain and white shawl sits with hands folded. Women with long braided hair sit in the foreground, and brass and silver puja plates with offerings, including an apple, fill the lower right. The setting appears to be a puja or aarti ritual.2010-10-19December 26 20102010-12-26Night ritual inside a temple hall beside a fire pit where a flame rises from a pile of coconut halves and offerings. In the foreground a shaven-headed man in an orange-saffron cloth and a garland of yellow and white flowers holds his hands over the fire near another man's head, who is also shaven and garlanded. Behind them a bald man in a white dhoti with a rudraksha mala and flower garland looks upward. Several onlookers in dark and white clothing stand around, and a bright tube light and stone pillars frame the scene.2011-11-29Night-time temple ritual photo. In the foreground a man with a white-and-gold floral garland, orange-red shawl, gold armlet and forehead ornament faces right, his face lit by a lamp. Behind him a man in an orange garment and white-and-gold garland stands beside a bare-chested priest with a bow of sacred ash on his forehead. A priest in a red-and-orange shawl and white dhoti holds a brass tray with a flaming oil lamp, while another priest on the right holds a metal plate. Onlookers in white shirts stand in the background near a carved stone wall and metal grille. The setting suggests an aarti or puja at a temple shrine.2012-06-05