Skip to content
Nithyanandapedia
A photograph of women seated in a long row on a glossy white floor, performing a vilakku puja with brass oil lamps lit on banana leaves set with flowers, fruit, kumkum and incense. Most wear cream and gold-bordered sarees with white flower garlands in their hair; a woman in the foreground in a cream saree with a gold border holds a lamp near a small boy in a checked shirt seated beside her. Behind them, a man in orange cloth sits near a raised platform, a woman in a red-and-gold saree stands at the right, and drums lie against the wall. Several people are visible, the total roughly 6-20.

More like this

Open the gallery
June 19 20142014-06-19Women in cream and gold-bordered saris sit in a long row on a polished white floor during a lamp ritual, each before a brass oil lamp (vilakku) lit with flames, with banana leaf trays of flowers, fruit and incense sticks. A small boy in a checked shirt sits among them, and a woman in a red blouse beside him holds a lamp. A woman in the foreground wears a jasmine garland and tends a lamp. Behind them a robed priest in orange sits near a shrine, and drummers with drums sit at the right edge. Thick incense smoke rises through the hall.2014-06-29 +1 copiesJune 29 20142014-06-29 +1 copiesA row of women sit cross-legged on a polished white floor in a hall, performing a ritual. Each has a leaf plate with flowers, fruit, red kumkum and incense sticks, and brass oil lamps (deepams) with lit flames stand before them. The women wear white and cream saris and sarees with orange or yellow borders, and some wear beaded necklaces. In the background, a man in a saffron-orange robe stands near the wall, and another figure in white stands nearby. Wooden doors and a framed picture hang on the cream walls.2014-06-19A long row of women sit cross-legged on a polished floor during a 108 Vilakku Puja, each tending a brass oil lamp (vilakku) on a banana leaf set with flowers, fruit and red kumkum. Foreground women wear white saris with gold borders and rudraksha or bead necklaces; one wears an orange-bordered sari. In the background, a figure in saffron/orange robes stands near the far wall, and another person in white stands beside a doorway. Incense sticks smoulder among the offerings. The hall has cream walls, brown wooden doors and a small framed picture on the wall, and the scene shows a row of ritual lamps extending into the distance.2014-06-29June 29 20142014-06-29June 29 20142014-06-29 +1 copiesPhotograph of a large group of women seated on the floor in a covered pavilion during a vilakku pooja, lighting oil lamps. Many wear white saris and some have blue or patterned blouses, with beaded necklaces and tulsi-style beads. Each woman holds or sits beside a brass oil lamp and a plate of flowers and offerings on a mat, with flames flickering in the smoky dim light. Decorative orange and blue cloth banners hang from the pavilion roof, and a few men in white stand at the back. No clearly identifiable a person is visible in the scene.2006-12-31June 29 20142014-06-29 +1 copiesSeptember 25 20112011-09-25Photo of a ritual hall where two saffron-robed priests walk down a central aisle between rows of seated devotees. The seated women wear white saris with gold borders, a red sari and green blouses, and many have flower garlands in their hair. Before them are plantain-leaf plates with fruit, flowers, red kumkum and small lamps. Standing figures in orange and white dhotis, some holding instruments, line the edges, and a shrine with a deity murti sits at the back.2014-06-29October 09 20112011-10-09