Rituals
[2015 - ongoing]
[2015 - ongoing]
For many people throughout India — and the rest of South Asia — the most crucial decisions of life are too important to be left to the rational mind alone. There are other, more ethereal, forces at work here. Spirits and deities walk amongst us in the old world, revealing their benevolent or malevolent nature at whim at any time. These spirits and deities demand to be placated, worshipped, and feted. They exist in the other India hiding in plain sight — an ancient and resilient and vibrant world just behind the neon signs, the marble and stainless steel facades, the luxury cars and the glass-housed shopping malls, revealing itself through elaborate traditions and customs and rituals, blood-letting ceremonies, and exuberant festivals taking place all over the subcontinent.
Rituals [2015 - ongoing] is a long-term project exploring and documenting the remarkable survival of this other, much older India and its age-old traditions and customs, in spite of, or perhaps more accurately, precisely as a result of the rising tide of westernisation and the resulting cultural alienation.
As Above, So Below, or, The Hanging Man
This image was made during chorrok, a folk festival celebrated by devotees of the Hindu god Shiva in certain parts of rural Bengal and Southern India on the last day of Chaitra, the last month of the year in some regional Indian calendars. The devotees believe that the ritual act of performing penance through the infliction of pain — by piercing their skin with sharp objects such as hooks or long, sharp nails for example — will cleanse and absolve them of the sins, sorrow, and suffering of the previous year so they may begin the new year with a pure spirit. It was nominated for the BBA Photography Prize - One Shot Award 2022.
Hooghly, West Bengal (2015)
A Boy Walks with a Human Skull
This image was made during chorrok, a folk festival celebrated by devotees of the Hindu god Shiva in certain parts of rural Bengal and Southern India on the last day of Chaitra, the last month of the year in some regional Indian calendars. The devotees believe that the ritual act of performing penance through the infliction of pain — by piercing their skin with sharp objects such as hooks or long, sharp nails for example — will cleanse and absolve them of the sins, sorrow, and suffering of the previous year so they may begin the new year with a pure spirit. This ritual procession with skulls is part of the festivities.
Hooghly, West Bengal (2015)
Lambadi Women at the Chennakeshava Temple
This image was made during a visit to the Chennakeshava temple in Belur, Karnataka in 2013. The Lambadis, found throughout the Deccan, are part of the nomadic Banjara people who migrated from Afghanistan to the rest of India through Rajasthan. Also known as Banjara and Sugali in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana, the Lambadi people are excellent agriculturists and cattle breeders and traders, and historically served as commisaries in the imperial Mughal army. Lambadi women wear heavy cumbersome ornaments, and beautifully coloured garments decorated with pieces of stone, cowries and bits of mirror glass.
Belur, Karnataka (2013)