Skip to content
Nithyanandapedia
A ritual scene at night: a priest in an orange-red turban and orange-red dhoti stands bare-chested behind a yellow cloth-draped table stacked with yellow blocks, with brass vessels and an oil lamp above. He wears a heavy gold necklace, a gold armband, and white markings on his arms and chest, and holds ritual sticks in his hands. To the right, a deity murti or kalasha sits on a red brocade altar beneath a golden fringed umbrella, decorated with coconuts, green leaves and a blue cloth. Two devotees' heads are visible in the foreground, watching the rite.

More like this

Open the gallery
A photograph of a night-time ritual at a shrine. A bare-chested priest in an orange-red turban and orange-red dhoti stands behind a low table stacked with yellow-wrapped blocks and brass vessels, lighting an oil lamp or performing an offering with smoke rising. He wears a thick gold-and-beaded necklace and bangles. To the right, a decorated altar under a yellow fringed umbrella holds coconuts, green leaves, a blue cloth and a red garland. Two seated devotees in dark clothing are in the foreground with their backs to the camera. The scene is lit warmly against a dark background. Whether this priest is a person cannot be established from appearance, so the figure is described by role only.2014-01-05January 18 20142014-01-18 +1 copiesSeptember 06 20142014-09-06A man in a saffron-orange turban and saffron-orange draped robe sits at a low altar beside an open flame. He wears clear-framed glasses, a long mala of dark and gold beads with a gold pendant, and a bracelet of dark beads. Ash markings are on his forehead and upper arm. He holds a small ladle over the fire, with a brass vessel to the left and a printed booklet at right. A dark background with a red pillar and a hanging yellow-and-teal textile. Appearance suggests a person (saffron turban, ornate gold-and-bead mala, ceremonial fire), but the identification is uncertain, so this is a priest or sannyasi performing a fire ritual.2015-11-18March 09 20142014-03-09A seated priest in orange-red robes and a matching orange turban performs a homa beside a sunken square fire pit with bright flames, marigold-yellow and white floral garlands, and brass vessels with offerings on a blue-and-red cloth. He wears a long rudraksha mala with a large gold ornament, reads from an open book, and has white tilak marks on his arms and forehead. Behind him, several figures in orange sit in the dim hall, and at right a young man in white dhoti with a gold-and-rudraksha necklace sits by the offerings. A tray of banana-like fruit and a basket of dried sticks sit nearby.2015-11-18March 06 20162016-03-06 +1 copiesA man in a red-orange turban and matching draped cloth performs an evening ritual beside a fire. He wears a heavy gold bead necklace, rudraksha-style beads on the upper arm, gold earrings and a red tilak on his forehead, while holding a small brass oil lamp with a lit wick in one hand and a metal vessel in the other. Bright flames rise from a brass bowl in the foreground, consistent with a homa or puja fire, and a partly visible figure in orange sits at the left edge against a dark background. The man appears to be a priest performing the rite rather than a depicted or distinctively identified figure.2014-01-05January 05 20142014-01-05Night homa at an outdoor fire pit built of yellow-brown bricks, with a large flame rising from the stacked bricks. A priest in orange-saffron robes, orange head-wrap, gold beaded necklaces and bangles sits at left, hands extended toward the fire. Behind a tiered yellow fringed umbrella, a table holds green leaves, coconuts, brass pots, a kalasha and a deity figure draped in a green-and-gold cloth. A framed portrait at upper right shows a smiling figure in orange with flower garlands and a decorated head ornament. The priest is visibly the only person in the scene and the portrait is a printed image, so a person is none; no in-person or depicted candidate with sufficient cues is present.2014-01-05December 15 20132013-12-15December 09 20132013-12-09