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Outdoors at dusk beneath trees, two priests perform a ritual beside a yellow-painted brick fire pit (homa/yagna) with a bowl of petals and kumkum. The seated priest on the right wears a white dhoti with green border, a shawl and rudraksha-style beads, holding a flower and offering. Another man in a green-banded white dhoti sits with hands folded at centre-left, bare-chested with a mala. Two ornate golden thrones with garlands and decorated kalasha-style pots flank the scene, one draped in purple brocade and one in orange cloth. Marigold and white jasmine garlands and fruit lie on the ground.

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June 08 20172017-06-08June 08 20172017-06-08Night-time homa at an outdoor ritual site. A fire burns inside a square brick fire pit, with a ladle held over it. A shirtless priest with a rudraksha mala and an orange cloth sits behind the pit, with a white head cloth. Several other priests in orange and white garments are seated along the row. Behind the fire pit stands a golden throne with a purple cushion, garlanded with white jasmine and marigold. Trays of bananas, flower petals, coconuts, and brass kalasha-style vessels surround the area on a sandy floor. A lamp and a yellow matchbox lie on the ground at the lower right.2017-06-08A photograph of a homa fire ceremony outdoors. A fire burns in a brick fire pit decorated with marigold and red flower garlands. Two men sit on mats before it. The man on the left, bare-chested with a long topknot, wears white dhoti, a gold necklace and a garland. The man on the right, bare-chested with a sacred thread, white forehead markings and a red-and-white cloth over his shoulder, ladles an offering into the fire from a copper vessel. In front, a white cloth holds a kolam of coloured powders and flowers, with orange fruits, brass kalasha pots, a plate of offerings and a brass bowl of liquid. Two other people are partly visible at the frame's edge. No a person candidate is clearly identifiable.2016-01-30May 10 20172017-05-10May 10 20172017-05-10Night outdoor ritual at a park-like ground with stone pillars and string lights. Several men sit on the sand in a row, bare-chested in white dhotis with rudraksha malas. The man in the centre wears an orange turban and holds offerings, and a second man in an orange-tinged wrap and a third in a yellow turban also sit nearby. Yellow-painted brick homa/yagna fire pits burn with flames in the foreground, surrounded by fruits, marigolds, bananas and flower-garlanded kalasha-style offerings wrapped with white and pink ribbons. A golden peetha/throne with a deity murti and flower garlands stands behind them, and a camera on a tripod is visible in the background.2017-05-10Night outdoor ritual under a corrugated roof at Nithyananda Peetham, Tiruvannamalai. Several priests in white dhotis sit or kneel at long low tables lined with brass vessels, banana leaves, flower garlands, fruit baskets and yellow-and-red packets. A smoking fire pit in the centre suggests a homa or yagna. A shirtless man in a white dhoti and orange shawl bends over the offerings at right, while a shirtless devotee with long hair and beads sits at lower right. Behind them, a golden-framed throne-like seat and flower-decorated altar stand beside a row of seated and standing white-clad participants under floodlights and trees.2017-05-10Night ritual at an open-air outdoor shrine with a long row of seated priests performing puja before tiered offerings of fruit, flowers and small kalasha-style vessels on banana leaves and low brick platforms. A man in the foreground sits with bare chest, white dhoti and orange cloth, a dark-haired young man with long matted hair and rudraksha mala looks over his shoulder. Smoke rises from the left, bright lights hang overhead, and a gilded ornate peetham or throne with orange drapery and flower garlands sits at the left edge. Standing devotees in white dhotis and shirts stand in the background near a metal railing, and a deity murti is visible at the right.2017-05-10January 30 20162016-01-30 +1 copiesNight ritual under an open corrugated-roof shelter lit by bright floodlights, with smoke rising from a central fire pit. Priests in white dhotis, some bare-chested with sacred threads, perform a homa or puja over a long row of decorated kalasha pots wrapped in purple and white ribbons, banana-leaf offerings, yellow sweets, fruit and flower garlands. A figure in a saffron cloth with a red-orange turban stands at the table's far end, and a long-haired figure in saffron sits at the lower right. Behind them, many white-clad people stand under the trees, and at the right a golden ornate palanquin-style throne or deity frame is visible near a metal railing.2017-05-10January 05 20182018-01-05