Skip to content
A large group of shirtless male participants sit cross-legged on colourful striped mats in a covered hall during an evening ritual. Many have white sacred ash or paste smeared across their chests, arms and faces, and several wear white cloths tied at the waist, white cords around the neck, and orange or saffron headbands with eye-shaped designs on their foreheads. Some participants hold small items in their hands and appear to be applying paste to each other. In the background a woman in a red sari stands near a red-draped platform, and ritual items are visible at the far side of the hall. Dim overhead lights and red and gold fabric decorations surround the scene.