See the little girl on her fathers head- this is the first Shia tutorial to our faith
Shimr frightening the kids...
These are two persons dressed as women and along with them is the cradle of Imam Hussains martyred infant Ali Asgher , he was shot down by Harmulla an archer of the Yazidi forces, so the ritual aand tradition here is that the mothers give their infants to them to be placed in the cradle for good luck, but Shimr comes down heavily on them by breaking the cradle and is rough on the little kids too..
The person impersonating Shimr.
The person impersonating the Imam
This is the situation at Amin Imambada ..the red hand is one of the members of Shimrs army hitting the crowrds and little children in the Taboot of Imam Hussain..
This is a version and display of a Iranian passion play..
Shimr was the Commander of Yazids Army..who decapitated Imam Hussains head..
This is the Ashura Juloos at Amin Imambada 20th Jan 2008.
I discontinued shooting the scourgings climbed a scaffolding to capture a few pictures of the Iranian passion play at Amin...
Believe me it is tough shooting here , the best location would be the ladies section but men are not allowed.
The first time I shot this was about 6 years back when Nasser of Lucky Hotel helped me climb the ledge via the entrance gate, I was shooting with F80and I remember with a single camera I shot color film slide and black and white rolls- totalling about 40.
This was the earliest madness of photography..I paid about Rs 8000 or more for developing and processing and made prints to exhibit in various national and internatonal salons..Today the world has gone digital and strangely all these pictures are shot on a single camera too.
Amin Imambada was my coming of age as a photographer, the following year I shot from the rear entrance top..And now after several years I shot at grass root level, one year I had to skip shooting here because I had injured my eye .
Now see tthe little kid absolutely no fear , no emotion, his guardian is more excited than him.
This picture I wish I could present to Mr Shiv Malik of New Statesman who has been harping about child abuse in UK. during Moharam.
You have to step into the shoes of the Shia to understand Ghame Hussain the Tragedy of Imam Hussain a 1400 year old pain that comes alive year after year..
If you go to Hyderabad this is mere childs play, the Hyderabadis initiate all their male chidren to Kama Matam from3 months onwards...
For those at my other web sites where I am cross blogging this, you will have to see the rest of my pictures at my Flickr photstream.. I am posting a few selected ones there..the rest shall remain at Flickr.
