The Marriamman Cheek Possession at Mahim Macchimar Colony, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
Here at Mahim Macchimar Colony predominantly a Koli commune of indigenous fishermen folks , the Goddess holds a very high position and is as famous as the others in the pantheon of Hindu deities.
There are are a very few Hindu Tamils but the followers of Goddess Marriamman come from diverse communities..
Shilpa is a Koli this is her second year of cheek piercing I shot her last year and again this year she was more peppy over confident and her husband was there from the start to the end to give her support , he felt her pain and I shot this too when the rod was pushed forcibly into her cheeks it was as though Nilesh's soul was being pierced too.
This is the genre of my photographer the dark side of humanity with positive results..at Sion Koliwada last year I shot Santosh hijra having his cheek pierced and this feast is a collection at my Flickr photostream.
I want to pierce my cheeks too but it does not seem to be happening , I am very close to this community everyone knows me respects me ..and you wont be surprised I start speaking Tamil too.
