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A photograph of a homa fire ceremony in an open-air hall with a large crowd seated on chairs and mats behind bamboo railings. In the foreground a fire burns over a square fire pit lined with yellow-and-orange offerings, with brass pots and vessels around it and banana leaves at left. A shaven-headed man in white ritual clothing and a white-and-gold sacred thread sits at the fire, a microphone before him and a tripod-mounted camera beside. At the right edge, two figures in saffron-orange robes wear garlands of yellow and maroon flowers and gold ornaments. Many devotees in white, saffron and bright saris watch the ritual.

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December 08 20112011-12-08December 08 20112011-12-08 +1 copiesNight outdoor ritual before a large seated crowd under string lights and floodlights. In the foreground a shaved-headed priest in white dhoti and shawl sits behind a brick fire pit (homa kund) with a small flame, banana leaves holding offerings, and coconuts. To the right, two attendants in orange-red robes with yellow-and-marigold garlands tend ceremonial items, one holding a brass vessel. Behind the fire, a monk in saffron-orange robe stands near a camera on a tripod. Hundreds of spectators in white and bright clothing sit on chairs and mats behind bamboo barriers. The scene appears to be a fire ritual during a satsang-style gathering.2011-12-08 +1 copiesDecember 08 20112011-12-08December 05 20162016-12-05Outdoor Rudra homa fire ritual. A bare-chested priest in a yellow head cloth and white dhoti, wearing a rudraksha mala and gold beaded necklace, feeds offerings into a large flame rising from a pit built of stacked yellow-ochre bricks decorated with red flower petals. Behind him, a crowd of dozens of people in white clothes and red shawls sit in rows, many with orange forehead marks and orange lanyards. Brass vessels, a basket of grain, flowers and fruit lie on a green cloth in the foreground. A few people in white stand at the back of the crowd.2016-07-02A night outdoor homa ceremony before a large seated crowd. A fire burns in a tiered fire pit built from yellow-ochre blocks on a red-orange platform, with banana leaves, fruit, a silver pot, small brass vessels and coconuts arranged around it. A priest in orange-saffron robes with a rudraksha mala and gold necklace sits on the left, tending the fire. On the right a shaved-headed priest in a white dhoti with a gold-bordered shawl sits cross-legged, holding a microphone and what appears to be a ritual text. Behind them, rows of attendees, including several women in saris and salwar, sit on chairs and mats under a bamboo barrier. A gold-framed object is visible at the left edge.2011-12-08 +1 copiesA large hall filled with seated devotees during a fire ritual. In the foreground, a brick fire pit with white-painted bricks and a burning flame sits before a row of people, with yellow and pink flower petals scattered on the bricks. Men in orange robes and white clothes and women in saris and salwar kameez, many wearing red and white flower garlands, sit on the floor with brass bowls and oil lamps. A priest in orange at left and a woman in orange at right tend the ritual items. A tripod-mounted camera stands at left, and a microphone is at right. Many more seated people fill the background under tall windows.2007-12-26April 05 20122012-04-05Night outdoor ritual on an open ground lit by floodlights. In the foreground, a shaved-headed priest in white dhoti and shawl with gold-striped border sits at right, speaking into a microphone and facing a square altar built of yellow-gold blocks with a red border, decorated with mango leaves, coconuts, brass vessels and a banana-leaf tray of fruit. At left, two priests in white clothes sit by the altar; a man in orange robe with a long rudraksha-style bead garland and gold chain sits centre, holding an umbrella-like parasol. Behind them a large seated crowd of hundreds fills the ground, many in white and some women in saris, under strings of lights and a tent. The priest at right seems to be a shaved-headed priest in white; no clear a person cues are visible on the orange-robed figure beyond ritual dress, so identity is uncertain.2011-12-08 +1 copiesMay 25 20172017-05-25A homa fire burns in the foreground at a Samaya Deeksha ceremony in a hall with a white canopy overhead. A bare-chested, shaved-headed priest in an orange-red shawl reaches toward ceremonial pots draped with yellow and white flower garlands beside a brass lamp stand. Around him, participants in white dhotis and saris with gold borders stand and sit on striped mats, some holding flowers or palms together. Brass lamps and a gilded altar with a deity murti stand in the background. Nearby, a seated priest in an orange shawl holds his hands together and another attendant stands in white. The composition is a photograph of an active homa ritual with several people visible.2015-07-17