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Outdoor Pongal celebration on bare dirt ground with smoke rising from clay pots set over a fire of straw and sticks. A figure in an orange sannyasi-style robe with long hair tied back sits cross-legged on a striped mat at the front, facing the pots, with their back to the camera. Around them, devotees in white dhotis and white shirts stand and bow, some wearing rudraksha malas. A woman in an orange sari bends near the fire, and a girl in white stands near the pots. An orange and yellow canopy with tassels shades the scene at the edges, and a kolam design is drawn on the ground to the right.

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A photograph of a Pongal celebration outdoors at a temple courtyard. A seated figure in saffron-orange robes sits on a white cushioned seat with an orange cloth spread on the ground before him, while a group of men and women in white dhotis and mundus, several with orange or yellow shawls, stand around him under large colourful umbrellas with tasselled edges. In the foreground, a woman in white kneels beside a clay pot on a fire, and another white-clad woman tends a second pot with a small metal vessel. Kolam-style lines are drawn in the sand, and a decorated shrine with a painted banner and garlands stands behind the group. A Tamil inscription is traced on the ground near the fire.2009-01-14Outdoors on dry earth, a figure in saffron-orange sleeveless robes sits cross-legged on a woven mat, extending a hand toward a kneeling man in white dhoti and shirt with a rudraksha mala. Nearby, a clay pot sits over smoking straw and a small fire, with more people in white crouching around it. Behind them a crowd in white, orange and checked shirts watches, and a draped canopy with red and yellow fringes stands at upper right. The scene appears to be a ritual gathering with a fire pot and blessings, with about 20 people visible.2009-01-14January 14 20092009-01-14January 14 20092009-01-14January 14 20092009-01-14January 14 20092009-01-14January 14 20092009-01-14Outdoor Pongal celebration on bare earth. A woman in white with a grey-streaked bun kneels and places palm fronds and straw into a red clay pot set in the ground, which holds a small steel plate of milk. Beside it a second clay pot is set in the earth. Behind them stands a line of people in white dhotis, white shirts and saris, some with hands folded in prayer. A young man in saffron-orange robes holds a steel plate of pink flower petals and a lit lamp, and another monastic in saffron stands at right with a saffron shawl. Dry palm leaves lie on the ground, and a plastic water jug and pale blue houses appear in the background.2009-01-14January 14 20092009-01-14January 14 20092009-01-14Outdoor ritual on bare earth with smoke rising from a fire of dry straw and sugarcane stalks. In the foreground a seated figure in a saffron-orange robe with hair tied up sits with back to the camera on a white cushion over a striped mat, a person candidate shown from behind, with only hair and orange robe visible. Nearby, a man in white dhoti and shirt kneels by terracotta pots and fire, while others in white dhotis and shirts stand with folded hands, rudraksha malas visible, and a man in a white shirt holds a long wooden pole. Colourful kolam patterns in pink and white decorate the ground. Background shows a crowd of onlookers and vehicles.2009-01-14January 14 20092009-01-14