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Night-time Mattu Pongal ritual outdoors on a sandy ground with a colourful concentric rangoli kolam in pink, blue, green and yellow beneath the figures. A golden-brown cow stands in the centre with a calf beside it, both garlanded. In the foreground a bald boy in a white dhoti with a red rudraksha-style necklace kneels with his back to the camera, and an older man in white shirt and dhoti kneels at right, decorating a horned bull with yellow marigold and white flower garlands. Behind them, women in orange and red saris and a woman in a purple sari stand watching, and a figure in an orange turban and orange cloth attends the cow. Clay pots and banana leaves lie nearby, with more people seated in the background. The scene is a cattle-worship offering.

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January 15 20182018-01-15January 15 20182018-01-15 +1 copiesJanuary 15 20182018-01-15January 15 20182018-01-15January 15 20182018-01-15Night outdoor ritual at Mattu Pongal in Tiruvannamalai. A brown cow and her calf stand on a striped mat, decorated with yellow and white flower garlands, a green leaf garland, and red and yellow turmeric-kumkum markings. A kneeling young man in white dhoti holds the calf's rope and garland. A bald man in a white shirt and dhoti stands beside the cow, guiding it. Behind them, several men in orange and saffron cloths and white dhotis with rudraksha malas stand with hands folded in prayer; one holds a brass bell. A devotee in a striped turban watches from the crowd.2018-01-15Night ritual outdoors at a Mattu Pongal celebration: two cows, one brown and one reddish calf, stand on sand decorated with a colourful kolam, garlanded with yellow and orange marigolds and flower strands. A man in white dhoti and shirt holds a lit oil lamp or flame near the cows, and a sannyasi in saffron-orange robes rings a handbell in the foreground. Nearby, saffron-robed devotees with rudraksha malas stand in rows with palms pressed together, some holding offering plates of fruit and flowers. On the right, a man in orange robes and a long garland of pink and white flowers holds his hands folded in namaste. A floral-decorated bowl sits on the ground, and striped mats cover the floor.2018-01-15 +1 copiesJanuary 15 20182018-01-15January 15 20182018-01-15Night outdoor ritual at Mattu Pongal celebrations. A cow with a brown coat, garlanded horns and yellow and white flower decorations stands on a sand-coloured platform while a white-clad older man holds its head. Behind them, devotees in saffron and orange robes with rudraksha malas stand with hands joined and some carry brass trays with offerings. On the right, a bare-chested man in brown cloth wears a long white flower garland and has long dark hair, with an ornamented figure beside him in an orange robe and white head cloth. A striped mat covers the ground and a crowd stands behind in the dark.2018-01-15January 15 20182018-01-15January 15 20182018-01-15