Panjurli

[ravishankar]

I hope you will find this an unusual picture with an unusual name.

This picture is of a man dressed as a goddess with supreme powers as part of an elaborate ritual that takes place in South Kanara District of Karnataka State in Southern India. I was fortunate to witness this ritual that begins at about 7 pm and goes on till about 4 am the next day. The man in this picture can be broadly described as a priest. The ritual begins with the host family requesting him to invoke the god and in his attempt to do so, has him dancing. The make up and the dance form are from a traditional dance form practiced in this part of the country called "YakshaGana"( yaksha - A kind of demigod and Gana - Music). After a while, he seems to go into trance and with that, the tempo of his dancing increases. During the dance, we can see him dancing with torches and he also places a lit camphor in his mouth. After the dancing is over, while he still seems to be in trance, a question answer session begins where the believers get into a conversation with this man, who is considered god. In this, the assembled people take turns in seeking relief for troubles dogging them and the priest, who is now considered a god incarnate, offers solutions.

This was the most amazing thing for me since this was a supposed direct communique between god and his/her devotees. This ritual is very colorful, highly energetic and is a treat to watch. And, the faith of the people assembled can leave all cynics and non-believers dumbfounded.

I have uploaded a few other photographs of the same ritual on flickr. After watching this, I am planning to travel extensively and do a series of text and pictures on such traditions that exist in the hinterlands of India.


I thought I should share this picture with you all and generate some interest in such colorful traditions that exist in the hinterlands of India.

I would appreciate if you could kindly comment on the suitability of the photograph and the technique I should adapt in future to ensure good photographs that communicate the story I intend to.

The exif info is

Nikon D90
VR 105mm
ISO 200
1/125s
F6.3
Nissin Di622 Flash

Thanks for viewing

Ravi

[kristenh]

Hi, Ravi- i like the photo and i think its interesting. and thank you for sharing with us. here's what i'm thinking- aside from the glare-y look to parts of the photo- the shot doesn't tell me much about the ritual- if your goal is to provide photos to help others learn more about the culture, include more of the background or photos that show us what the man is doing and so forth. otherwise, it just looks like a man wearing makeup that we don't understand.

[windrider86]

Certain things should be included in your posts in the critique section. Check out this link to see the forum rules and then please edit your post with your missing info. Holler if you need help

[ravishankar]

Thank You very much kristenh for your observations. I completely agree with your observation and have added the story (in brief, I hope) and also a few other related photographs on flickr.

As regards your observation about the quality of the photograph, I'd appreciate if you could tell me if there are ways where I can ensure that photographs do not appear glossy. I am new to photography and do not know anything about post processing.

Please see if you can share your views on these factors to help me take better photographs in future.

Thanks,


Ravi