Apsara Dance
One day at Angkor Wat I stumbled onto a rare performance of traditional Apsara dance at the temple and happily photographed away. Apsaras are female spirits or celestial nymphs in Hindu and Buddhist mythologies. They’re young, beautiful, magical and, not surprisingly, excellent dancers. Apsara dances tell classical myths inspired by the Cambodian version of the [...]
Rainbow Body
One of the most fascinating aspects of Tibetan Buddhism the way it uses visual arts to represent complex Tantric concepts. This can be traced back to the spread of Buddhism in Tibet in the 8th century by Guru Padmasambhava, who incorporated deities and practices from Tibet’s ancient, animistic Bön religion and magical rites and mantras [...]
Kumbha Mela
Unfortunately I was at the end of my rope in India by the time I arrived in Haridwar for Kumbha Mela. Nevertheless, here are a few pictures. It’s not my best work, but still something to be seen. The naga baba with the two European babes is Shiv Raj Giri. I found a video of [...]
Shivratri Festival
Shivratri symbolizes the wedding day of Lord Shiva and Parvati and is an auspicious days for Hindus. In Kutch there was a Shivratri festival at a small village north of Bhuj. I took the bus, always an adventure in itself, and spent the day there. (The only other foreigners there were a guy from Japan [...]
Tea with the Rabaris
The Rabaris are a Hindu tribe found in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, and other northwest Indian states, as well as in Pakistan. Their traditional occupation is raising and herding animals like goats, camels and cattle. They were once nomadic but have almost completely settled into villages. The women are famous for their textile embroidery, and in [...]
Hampi
The ruins of the Vijayanagara Empire at Hampi are just spectacular. India at its best. Hampi on Wikipedia Hampi on UNESCO
Jew Town
The Jews first arrived in Kerala in the 1st century BC at a time when Kerala traded with the Greeks, Romans and Arabs. The Jews in Kerala mainly lived in Cochin (Kochi) in an area now called Jew Town. They were an important part of Kerala’s spice trade and maintained huge warehouses of black pepper, [...]
Varkala Puja
Hindu puja (prayer) ceremonies led by priests are held every morning at Varkala beach on the Kerala coast. Families come to do this together. I don’t understand the significance of the rituals, but it was fascinating to watch. And the beach is gorgeous.
Tropical Color
Kerala presents a whole new color palette for me. Purples and oranges. Blues and yellows. Greens and reds. It’s fabulous.
Free Community Kitchen
The Langar at The Golden Temple is simply amazing. It serves free, delicious food to tens (or hundreds) of thousands of people a day, 24-hours a day. And the whole operation is run by volunteer labor. The free kitchen is a feature of all Sikh temples (gurdwaras), and doing volunteer work in the kitchens is [...]
Diwali Crowds
An estimated million or more people visited The Golden Temple at Amritsar on Diwali. I’d never photographed crowds like this before and really enjoyed the energy and the new visual challenges/opportunities it presented. At some point the masses just became an abstraction of movement and colors. The photo above was outside the ladies room.
Sadhus and Pilgrims
The Sikhs welcome all faiths to The Golden Temple. Anyone can eat and sleep there, as long as they show appropriate respect to their religion, which is easy to do (no drugs or alcohol, no shoes, and no uncovered heads inside the temple). Droves of Hindu sadhus and pilgrims were at the temple when I [...]
Ladakh Festival
The Ladakh Festival is organized by the J&K government and brings together the various peoples and cultures of the region. Today was the first (and best) day. It started in the morning with a parade of people from different villages in traditional dress playing music, singing and dancing, and ended up at Leh Polo Grounds [...]
A Wedding in Zanskar
Weddings are a huge reflection of the culture of Ladakh and Zanskar and are in a state of change like everything else here. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this marriage other than a constantly weeping bride, but what I got was an insight into the culture that I hadn’t known before. It was [...]
Ladakh Prayer Festival: Day 2
Tea and lunch for the festival are made on the premises. I spent this morning in the indoor kitchen where the teas (butter and sweet) are made in huge cauldrons and then dispatched out in big kettles to be served to the monks, nuns and attendees. Everyone brings their own cups. The older monks and [...]
