Skip to content
Nithyanandapedia
Night ghat ceremony beside a water tank with a large black Shiva lingam draped in marigold and garlands on the right. A young man in an orange dhoti and bare chest, with white sacred markings on his arms and forehead, holds a lit multi-tiered brass aarti lamp aloft while performing the ritual. Two women in white saris with gold borders stand with hands folded on the steps behind him, and kumkum-coloured rangoli designs and small oil lamps decorate the stone steps. Seated devotees fill terraced stands in the background under a screen and orange flags. The man's forehead and arm markings and orange dhoti match a ritual aarti offering rather than a portrait identification, so no identity is asserted.

More like this

Open the gallery
December 23 20162016-12-23December 12 20162016-12-12Night photo of a Karthigai Deepam celebration at an outdoor stepped amphitheatre lit with floodlights and strings of lights. In the foreground a young shirtless man in an orange dhoti holds up a large ornate silver lamp with a flame, smoke rising from it. Seated on the red steps, a woman in white sari with folded hands prays, and a man in white dhoti stands behind them near a black deity murti decorated with yellow flowers. Red and orange flags line the railings, and a crowd sits in the stands watching.2016-12-12December 06 20162016-12-06December 06 20162016-12-06December 06 20162016-12-06A night-time riverside ritual photograph in which several shirtless young men in saffron-orange dhotis stand in a row on stone ghat steps, holding up tall lit aarti lamps with both arms. Their torsos and arms bear white ash markings, and some wear beaded bracelets. Behind them, illuminated tiered brass lamp stands glow against the dark sky, and a larger ornate lamp tower rises at the top. Seated figures in white clothes sit on the steps beside small oil lamps and offering plates. A seated crowd watches from the left behind railings, with red flags and string lights along a wall.2016-12-06December 06 20162016-12-06Night photo of a temple-side Deepam ceremony at a large open-air stage with a water-filled pool. A bare-chested man with long dark curly hair, wearing an orange dhoti with gold borders and a white sash over his shoulder, faces away from the camera and holds up a tall multi-tiered brass lamp with several lit flames while ringing a small handbell. Ornamental red-orange beaded bracelets are on his wrists and white sacred markings on his arms. In front of him a golden throne-like seat with a red cloth stands on a red-draped platform, and a dark stone shivalinga-style structure with a yellow cloth is behind it. Strings of lights decorate the tiers, a crane-mounted camera overhead, and a large crowd of seated devotees fills the stands. a person: long swept-back hair, orange ornamental clothing and beaded wrist malas are visible cues for the lamp-holder.2016-12-12Night-time photograph of an outdoor temple tank at a Karthigai Deepam celebration. A bare-chested priest in an orange dhoti with a gold border stands at the water's edge with his back to the camera, holding up a tiered brass deepam lamp with several flames. Beaded bracelets and a sacred thread are visible. Behind him, a crowd sits on tiered steps lit by floodlights, and a small deity murti sits on a gold-and-red platform in the water. A large screen and a crane-mounted camera stand at the side.2016-12-12December 06 20162016-12-06December 06 20162016-12-06