Sunday, August 25, 2013
Goddess Marriammen Cures Small Pox ,,
Mariamman
Māri (Tamil: மாரி), also known as Mariamman (Tamil: மாரியம்மன்) and Mariaai (Marathi: मरी आई), both meaning "Mother Mari", spelt also Maariamma (Tamil: மாரியம்மா), or simply Amman or Aatha (Tamil: அம்மன், "mother") is the South Indian Hindu goddess who can take away any kind of illness and a fertitility goddess. She is the main South Indian mother goddess, predominant in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Māri is closely associated with the Hindu goddesses Parvati[clarification needed] and Durga[clarification needed] . Goddess Mariamman and Goddess Kali are closely associated with each other. But , it does not mean that they are the same . They are two different goddesses[clarification needed]
Festivities for her happen during the late summer, early autumm season of "Aadi". Throughout the deccan region, grand festival known as "Aadi Thiruvizha" are taken for Maariamman. Her worship mainly focuses on bringing rains and curing diseases like cholera, smallpox, and chicken pox.
She is worshipped in accordance to the local agamas as "Pidari" or the "Grama Devata" usually by non-brahmin priests or in some cases of big temples like Samayapuram Maariamman temple, also by brahmin priests. According to shaktha agamas, she is depicted in sitting posture and might be flanked some times by Ganesha and Subramaniya or Ganesha and Naaga on her sides.[citation needed] She is usually taken in procession in a decorated chariot.
Contents [hide]
1 Origin
2 Worship
3 Myths
4 Inograghy
5 Goddess of disease
6 Fertility goddess
7 Temples
7.1 Sri Ramamirthamman Temple
7.2 Outside India
8 Hindu tradition
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References
12 Further reading
13 External links
Origin[edit source | editbeta]
Erode Mariamman Ther Thiruvilla
Mariamman is an ancient goddess, whose worship probably originated from pre-Vedic mother goddess cult of Dravidian people before the arrival of the Aryans with their Brahmanic religion.This is well attested by the unemployment of Brahmins in officiating the worshiping rituals of the goddess and by the non-Vedic worshiping method that was embraced by her devotees." She was believed and worshipped by the ancient Dravidian people to bring rain and hence prosperity to them as their vegetation was mainly dependent upon rain. The goddess was not a local deity, connected to a specific location but worshiped throughout the Dravidian nation.
Worship[edit source | editbeta]
The worshiping methods are non-vedic and often accompanied by various kinds of folk dancing.[1] Offerings such as Pongal and Koozh that were cooked using earthen pots were also made during the festive season. Rituals such as fire walking and mouth or nose piercing were also practiced.
Myths[edit source | editbeta]
One story about the origin of Maariamman is that once Parvathi saw how the people were suffering from illness so she absorbed the people's sickness and turned into Mariamman.
Inograghy[edit source | editbeta]
Māri is generally portrayed in the sitting or standing position, often holding a trident (trisula) in one hand and a bowl (kapala) in the other. One of her hands may display a mudra, usually the abhaya mudra, to ward off fear. She may be represented with two demeanors—one displaying her pleasant nature, and the other her terrifying aspect, with fangs and a wild mane of hair.
Goddess of disease[edit source | editbeta]
The Nanalthidal Mariamman,Kattucherry near Porayar,Tamil Nadu
Mariamman cures all so-called "heat-based" diseases like pox and rashes. During the summer months in South India (March to June), people walk miles carrying pots of water mixed with turmeric and neem leaves to ward off illnesses like the measles and chicken pox.[why?] In this way, goddess Māri is very similar to North Indian goddess Shitaladevi.
Fertility goddess[edit source | editbeta]
Devotees also pray to Mariamman for familial welfare such as fertility, healthy progeny or a good spouse. The most favoured offering is "pongal", a mix of rice and green gram, cooked mostly in the temple complex, or shrine itself, in terracotta pots using firewood.
Some festivals in honor of goddess Māri involve processions carrying lights. In the night, the devotees carry oil lamps in procession.[why?] Mariamman is the family deity for many families in Thanjavur district,Tamil Nadu.It is usually a family custom to initially worship the family deity for any family occasion such as wedding. Many families even have a custom of inviting the family deity first for all occasion in the family.The family deity(Kula-theivam)worship is considered more important in any Hindu festival. The family deity worship runs many generation and it also gives a clue to the origin of family,because the family deities are usually located within the vicinity of the village where the family belongs.
Temples[edit source | editbeta]
Mariamman temple in a village in Tamil Nadu
Main shrine to Mariamman in the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Most temples to Mariamman are simple village shrines, where non-Brahmins act as lay-priests using non-agamic rituals. In many rural shrines, the goddess is represented by a granite stone with a sharp tip, like a spear head. This stone is often adorned with garlands made of limes and with red flowers. These shrines often have an anthill that could be the resting place of a cobra. Milk and eggs are offered to propitiate the snake.
Some temples have also attained enough popularity that Brahmins officiate at them. For example, the Samayapuram temple near the shore of river Cauvery in the northern outskirts of Trichy, maintains a rich agamic tradition and all rituals are performed by Gurukkal of Brahmins.
Punainallur, near Thanjavur (Tanjore), is the location of another famous Māri temple. Legend says that Mariamman appeared to the King Venkoji Maharaja Chatrapati (1676–1688) of Tanjore in his dreams and told him she was in a forest of Punna trees three miles distant from Tanjore. The King rushed to the spot and recovered an idol from the jungle. Under the king's orders a temple was constructed, the idol installed and the place was called Punnainallur. Hence the deity of this temple is known as Punnainallur Mariamman. Mud replicas of different parts of the human body are placed in the temple as offerings by devotees pleading for cure. It is said that the daughter of Tulaja Raja (1729–35) of Tanjore, who lost her eyesight due to illness, regained it after worshiping at this temple. Shri Sadasiva Bodendral is said to have made the Moola Murthy of Goddess Maariamman from the mud from the ant hill where snakes had resided.
Erode Mariamman temple festival is grand one in Tamil Nadu. Three mariamman goddess named small, mid and big mariamman in three corners of city combines to a festival at every April month of season. It has ther thiruvilla and all devotions to God which ends in Cauvery river to stack away the kambam(Mariamman's husband) into the flowing river water.
Other important temples of Mariamman in Tamil Nadu are in the towns of Veerapandi, Theni, Anbil (near Trichy), Narthamalai, Thiruverkadu, Salem, Virudhunagar and Sivakasi, Vellore. In Chennai (Madras), a famous Mariamman temple is the Putthu Mariamman—the Putthu (ant hill) is across the road from the temple and is located on the Velachery Main Road.
Singer Harini rendered in 2012 a song on Samayapuram Mariamman deity which became part of the album OM NAVA SAKTHI JAYA JAYA SAKTHI. The song narrates the power of Sakthi as Samayapuram Amman which has the Peruvalai River as Punya Theertham as believed by people in that area.[2]
Another famous Mariamman temple is situated in the state of Karnataka, in the town of Kaup, seven kilometers from the famous temple town of Udipi.
Marubai temple matunga
Mariamman Koil, Pilakool
Mariamman Temple, Ho Chi Minh City
Mariamman Temple, Bangkok
Mariamman Temple, Pretoria
Punnainallur Mariamman
Samayapuram Mariamman Temple
Sri Ramamirthamman Temple, Erumaipadukai
Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur
Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Penang
Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore
Mariamman Temple, Pretoria
Sri Ramamirthamman Temple[edit source | editbeta]
Sri Ramamirthamman Temple is a famous temple on the banks of the River Vennar near Needamangalam; the beautiful village is called Erumaipadukai. Shri Maan S.Ramachandran pillai is the founder of Ramamirthamman Temple. This amman kovil thiruvilla was very famous; many people celebrate this amman kovil year festival.
It is believed by the devotees that the Goddess has enormous powers over curing illnesses[1] and hence, it is a ritual to buy small metallic replicas, made with silver or steel, of various body parts that need to be cured, and these are deposited in the donation box.[citation needed] Devotees also offer mavilakku (Tamil: மாவிளக்கு), a sweet dish made of jaggery, rice flour and ghee. [2] Offerings of raw salt is also made to the Goddess by the rural devotees. The temple attracts thousands of devotees on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays, the holy days for Ramamirthamman.
Outside India[edit source | editbeta]
There are many Mariamman temples outside of India, in Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Fiji, Guyana, Vietnam, Germany[3] and South Africa, the product of efforts of the Tamil diaspora. Some notable temples include the Sri Mariamman temple in Singapore, a Mariamman temple in Pretoria, South Africa, as well as one in Medan, Sri Mariamman Temple Karachi Pakistan, Indonesia.[citation needed]
Hindu tradition[edit source | editbeta]
In Hindu tradition, Mariamman is the sister of Lord Vishnu (Sriranganathar) and called Mahamaya.[citation needed]
The Samayapuram Mariamman is worshiped on the first day of the Tamil month of Vaikasi by the Iyengar/Srivaishnava Brahmins of Srirangam. They claim that she is the sister of Lord Renganath (a form of Vishnu) of Srirangam.[citation needed] This is the second most prominent temple in Tamil Nadu, following Palani, on the basis of income.[citation needed]
She is also known as Sri Chowdeshwari Devi in most of the parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In Mysore region she is worshiped as both Chowdeshwari Devi and as well as Mariamman. There are many instances where Mariamman has appeared to people in form an old woman wearing red sari with green bangles and three mangalsutras.[clarification needed] She is also regarded as the Gramdevata[clarification needed] of certain villages, thus reducing the incidence of contagious disease in these villages. Another version depicts her as Pattalamma, goddesses of truthfullness and punctuality. She is said to punish any villager failing to practice these virtues.[citation needed]
In reference to Sanskrit stotras, it is suggested Mariamman is not sister of Lord Visnu rather feminine aspect of Lord.[citation needed] The Lord incarnates in this form during Kali yuga, when knowledge is almost void or ignorance at peak. Even few refer or map to other female goddess like Renuka devi, none of them have been proved or validated. The Mariamman represents core aspects of Lord in form of curative aspect to signify direction and awakening of knowledge. It also represents finite aspect of infinite qualities.
My India Is Different From Yours ..
rituals
customs
traditions
pain remorse
my india is
not taj mahal
agra ..red fort
but a pause
in the tear
drop of a
beggar child
lying on the
floor hungry
thirsty
outdoors
my india
is beggars
malangs
lepers
deformed
humanity
shouting
hoarse
my india
is awakening
of the spirit
wingless
off course
my india
is mysticism
sufism shiasm
hinduism
as it was
a world
without
wars
learning
ilm
knowledge
as its
source
.
Steel Hooks That Will Be Inserted In The Devotees Back To Pull Cars
Steel Hooks That Will Be Inserted In The Devotees Back To Pull Cars, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
This piercing is very tough , much tougher than piercing the cheeks with the 21 feet steel rods , first ash is put on the back to desensitize pain , it is ash with camphor,, than two marks are made on the back where the hooks will be inserted ..
The hooks are pushed into butter or inserted into aloevera for smooth lubrication .. the devotee is asked to put a lime in his mouth to reduce the pain..and it takes 4 to 5 guys to insert one hook and than the other hook , now the human horse of Goddess Marriammen is ready to pull a car tempo or a rickhsha or a heavy basket of coconuts with the hooks attached to them with a nyolon rope and thus barefeet they cover the distance from the beach road back to the Marriammen Temple Macchimar Colony Mahim..via the St Michael Church Mori road ..
The Best Way To Learn Photography Is To Watch How A Great Photographer Shoots
The Best Way To Learn Photography Is To Watch How A Great Photographer Shoots, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
And greatness comes from humility and Marc De Clercq my friend my Malang brother is a sensitive responsive street and fine art photographer a heady amalgam..mind beyond matter.
We have been close friends since 2005 and have traveled a vast distance of thought , he loves India and Indians love him .. my family loves him and my grand daughter Marziya adores him , he is our extended family like my other American brother Glenn Losack ..mind doctor great street photographer.. both are holistic healers .. both shoot differently ..
Both were at the Maha Kumbh , though I missed Glenn he was in Mumbai after shooting the inaugural ceremony ..I was there with Marc shooting the Shahi Snan procession Basant Panchami but I was very close to the Naga Sadhus as I lived in Sector 4 with my Naga Guru Juna Akhada..
Marc and I were at Makanpur documenting The Dam Madar Malangs of India , I dont think any photographer has shot India more beautifully than Marc.. he is a silent shooter despite his black clothes turban and whiteness , you cant see him when he shoots he merges with the surroundings becomes Indian completely ,,, and I watch and learn from both these stalwarts of photography .. I am just a speck,.. but I am learning fast rapidly and what I learn I impart it to both my grand daughters , that become one with what they shoot ,, 5 year old Marziya Shakir and 2 year old Nerjis both gifted street photographers of Bandra.
There Is a difference between your world and mine
There Is a difference between your world and mine, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
you shoot
sharp curves
i shoot
blurred lines
your world
my world
dont align
we meet
on crossroads
online ..you
shoot vision
i shoot the
divine ..occult
possession
supernatural
man and god
entwined
a demarcation
line i try to
find ...i shoot
into the sun
you shoot
from behind
you shoot
with a eye
i shoot
blind
i shoot
pain
poor
people
homeless
mankind
the androgynous
anomalous
part man
part woman
ardh nari
nareshwar
undefined
lord irawan
ma bhaichura
her children
maligned
captive souls
enshrined
my barefeet
in a river
of blood
carelessly
outlined ...
he generously
designed .
a beggar poet
words pictures
matter mind
combustible
combined
Shooting The Supernatural,,, Marriammen Feast Goat Slaughter
Shooting The Supernatural,,, Marriammen Feast Goat Slaughter, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
The Marriammen feast begins with the slaughter of the goats , and they are washed , placed in front of the doors of the temple ,the drums beat , and the goat begins to shiver and dance , it knows it is going to be slaughtered , but there has to be a sign from the Goddess , people wait for that sign and the head priest too and the sign comes in a flash , and before you can bat your eyelid the butcher has chopped its head with one stroke and more possession people go in a trance..
Possession Marriammen Feast Macchimar Colony Mahim
Possession Marriammen Feast Macchimar Colony Mahim, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
This was shot in 2010 , and I remember every frame , perhaps because I shoot barefeet , pictures embedded on my soul.. on one end and the burning pain as the tar touched my soles.. crossing the road with the procession from the Marriammen Temple to the Mahim beach was unbearable ..but on the beach the sand calmed the feet .. and I shoot on a empty stomach, no food no victuals no water ,, my friend Marc De Clercq and some of his friends were here too fascinated with all this recording it on their cameras.
This is the crux of my photography , I shoot the other side , the dark side of the moon.. I went into a trance myself falling on my face with my camera.. but nothing happens I become one with the people I shoot and my surroundings ,.. and it was in 2011 that I became a mystic a Malang along with Marc at Ajmer we both were initiated as Dam Madar Malangs ,,
About Goddess Marriammen -Macchimar Colony Mahim
About Goddess Marriammen -Macchimar Colony Mahim, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/hindu/ascetic/mariam.html
Devotion to Mariamman
India has always been a land of villages and in the context of village life the most important and powerful divine presence is the gramadevata, a deity identified with the village. A village may have several gramadevatas, each with its own function. Village deities are more numerous than Indian villages, though some are known throughout a region and one of these is the goddess Mariamman (Also called Mari, Mariamma, Maryamman. In the Puranas she is known as Marika.) who has devotees all over South India.
The village belongs to the goddess. Theologically she was there before the village and in fact she created it. Sometimes she is represented only by a head on the soil, indicating her body is the village and she is rooted in the soil of the village. The villagers live inside or upon the body of the goddess. The goddess protects the village and is the guardian of the village boundaries. Outside the village there is no protection from the goddess. The village is a complete cosmos and the central divine power of the village is the goddess. The relationship between the village and the goddess is primarily for the village as a whole and not for individuals. Mari can mean sakti, power, and amman is mother, so she is the mother-power of the village.
However, this relationship is not a simple one. In some places, Mariamman is invoked three times a year to regenerate village soil and protect the community against disease and death. Other places may have an important Mariamman festival. Mariamman is not a peaceful and benign goddess. She can be vindictive, inexorable, and difficult to propitiate. Essentially she is a personification of the world's natural forces, but specifically she is a goddess of smallpox, chickenpox, and other diseases. Her role is ambivalent for she both inflicts the diseases and protects the village from them. The onset of disease or disaster causes special worship or a festival of the goddess, for they are caused by demons let in because the goddess's defences have broken down or because the goddess is angry at being neglected. Mariamman reminds people that their ordered world can be shattered at any time and worshipping her makes one's view of reality less fragile. When the villagers are afflicted, so is the goddess invaded by demons. The villagers and the goddess are suffering the invasion of the village together and that is why one can say that the goddess causes the epidemic. The goddess suffers most but cannot contain it all and spreads it to the villagers, who help her deal with it. Mariamman is especially favourable at this time to those suffering from the disease, for they are helping her bear the burden of the demonic attack.
Blood offerings of animals are commonly sacrificed at festivals of Mariamman, but this is not invariably the case. Whitehead in his classic study The Village Gods of South India (1921) found at the village of Vandipaliam in Cuddalore district that at an annual festival of ten days to Mariamman no animal sacrifices were ever offered or on any other occasion at the shrine. At Shiyali in Tanjore district during the sacrifices of animals to other gods at the festival (of all the village gods) a curtain is drawn in front of Mariamman.
History One story about the origin of Mariamman is she was the wife of Tirunalluvar, the Tamil poet, who was a pariah, outcaste. She caught smallpox and begged from house to house for food, fanning herself with leaves of the nim or margosa tree to keep the flies off her sores. She recovered and people worshipped her as the goddess of smallpox. To keep smallpox away they hang nim leaves above the doors of their houses.
Another story involves the beautiful virtuous Nagavali, wife of Piruhu, one of the Nine Rishis. One day the Rishi was away and the Trimurti (an image with three heads representing Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva) came to see if her famed beauty and virtue was true. Nagavali did not know them and, resenting their intrusion, turned them into little children. The gods were offended and cursed her, so her beauty faded and her face became marked like smallpox. The Rishi returned, found her disfigured, and drove her away, declaring she would be born a demon in the next world and cause the spread of a disease which would make people like herself. She was called Mari, meaning 'changed.' Both stories are reported by Whitehead and he remarks that in Mysore he was told that Mari meant sakti, power.
Mariamman is an ancient goddess, whose worship probably originated in the tribal religion of Dravidian India before the arrival of the Aryans and the brahman religion. According to tradition, among the Dravidian mountain tribes as in Coorg in southern Karnataka, human sacrifices were offered to Mariamman. These were replaced with animals and as we have seen, in some villages no animal sacrifices are offered. Here we can see a historical gradation.
Local goddesses such as Mariamman who protect villages and their lands and represent the different castes of their worshippers have always been an important part of the religious landscape of South India. However, we can note periods of special significance. The eclecticism of the Vijayanagar period (1336-1565) encouraged folk religion, which became more important and influenced the more literate forms of religion. In the last century and a half there has been a rebirth of Tamil self-consciousness (see Devotion to Murukan). In the middle of the present century deities such as Mariamman have become linked to the "great tradition" as the strata of society which worship the goddess has become integrated into the larger social order.
Symbols At the centre and source of the village is a boddhu-rayee, navel stone, with which the goddess is associated. As mentioned in doctrines, the goddess may be represented by only a head on the ground, as her body is the village. To protect the village, shrines and symbols of the goddess are often placed at the boundaries of the village. These symbols are usually simple, rough, unhewn stones, five or six inches high and blackened with anointing oil, or there may be a stone pillar. If there are shrines these will often be crude simple structures.
Mariamman's colour is yellow and sometimes a stone is adorned with a yellow dress, only a small part of bare stone emerging at the top. Sometimes there is only a spear or trident thrust in the ground in place of the goddess-stones. In larger villages a slab of stone may be carved with a rough figure of a woman, who may have four, six, or eight arms, or none at all, and the arms hold various implements such as a knife, a shield, a drum, a bell, a devil's head, and a three-pronged fork. It is common to have a fixed stone image in the shrine and to use a small portable metal image in processions. Mariamman can be represented as riding naked on an ass with a winnow on her head and a broom and water-pot in her hands. Sometimes there is no image and the goddess is represented by a brass pot of water decorated with nim leaves. The nim tree is sacred to Mariamman. In poor villages an earthenware pot is used.
During the ceremonies of the goddess there is a symbolic marriage. Although the goddess is sometimes said to have a consort, she is really married to the village, so the goddess and village can nourish each other.
A blood sacrifice at her festival can appease the goddess to withdraw her anger symbolised as the heat of disease or it can symbolise the defeat of the invading demon. Traditionally a buffalo was offered. After it was beheaded, its leg was thrust into its mouth, fat from the stomach was smeared in its eyes, and a candle was lit on its head. It was then presented to the goddess. This humiliation of the victim symbolises the defeat of an enemy, the demon who causes the epidemic or disaster.
Village festivals are filled with symbolism. At a festival in Karnataka, the Mariamman image is first painted in bright colours and put in a shelter of nim leaves and a sheep sacrificed to placate the goddess. Then a he-buffalo is sacrificed by untouchables and the head put in a pit before Mariamman. The blood and parts of the buffalo are mixed with rice and put in a large basket. This is caraga and it is carried in procession by untouchables followed by other villagers carrying sickles and weapons to guard it. At other shrines sheep are sacrificed and mixed with the caraga, which is then sprinkled on the fields and along the boundaries of the village, thus regenerating the soil and protecting the village. Even vegetarian farmers believe that the soil needs blood and if it is not given then human lives will be taken.
Festivals without animal sacrifice may offer boiled rice, fruit, flowers, cakes and sugar, and incense and camphor are burnt. There is Abishegam, ceremonial washing of the image twice a day, with water, oil, milk, coconut milk, turmeric, rose water, sandalwood, honey, sugar, limes, and a solution of the bark of certain trees, separately in a regular order. The image of the goddess is carried twice a day on the shoulders of devotees around the village and there may be a car procession one day. Under brahmanical influence, the image can be towed around a tank.
At many festivals an important role is played by a Matangi, a low caste woman who is unmarried and holds the office for life. She is a living symbol of the goddess and becomes possessed by the goddess, dancing wildly, using obscene language, spitting at devotees, and pushing people around with her backside. The festival reverses social norms and the Matangi's behaviour, which would ordinarily be highly polluting, is purifying and people seek out her spit and insults.
Adherents Millions of villagers across South India worship Mariamman, especially in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Mariamman is one of the deities worshipped in almost every Tamil village. Nearly all members of a village participate in the goddess's festival, even brahmans and Muslims. The different castes to some extent mix freely. This is not the case in daily life. The ritual topography of a village in Karnataka, for example, has an inner village inhabited by the purest castes and the rest live outside this. The shrines of the goddess would be in the outside part of the village. The oldest, largest, and most important Hindu temple in Singapore is the Mariamman Temple, which was established early in the nineteenth century.
Pilgrims at a Mariamman festival wear mostly yellow, the colour of the goddess. Some men dress as tigers and other animals. Pilgrims may come because of a specific fear or debt or because one of their family has a disease associated with the goddess or they themselves have recovered from the disease. Particular castes are associated with Mariamman, such as fishermen and builders on the coast of Tamil Nadu. Pilgrims fast before the festival and bring offerings, such as money in a propitious amount, say one hundred and one rupees. Some pilgrims have made vows to Mariamman to walk on fire, carry burning pots on their heads, or perform covadi, when they swing suspended on hooks through their flesh.
Headquarters/
Main Centre There is no one main centre for Mariamman.
The Devi Enters The Human Body
126,217 items / 921,144 views
The drummer instead of beating the drum scratches the surface with his stick which produces an ear shattering effect , and it is like funereal drone and with each increase in crescendo , the women who are now possessed by the devi or goddess behave in a way that is truly abnormal..they are not here they are not there , they are on a different planet of the mind.
When they are totally out of control the priest pulls them by the hair and swipes holy ash or places a lime under their feet.
They calm down and are still in a state of shock.
This lady in the picture showed all the characteristics of Goddess Kali..
I was just a feet away from them and the entire venue was charged with the spirit of this event..
This is what I like to shoot and some of the ladies would charge in to beat their head on the state of Nandi the Bull,, but were held back before any damage could be caused.
Hardcore Extreme Possession - I Only Shoot What I Was Destined To Shoot.
Hardcore Extreme Possession - I Only Shoot What I Was Destined To Shoot., a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
This year I was not invited to Marriammen Macchimar Feast , or they forgot my number , but I too was busy on other fronts , however I believe I can only shoot what I was destined to shoot .. I shot Marriammen Feast Nehru Nagar Juhu thanks to my best friend Davendar Bhima and Madraswadi Marriammen feast thanks to my other good friend Shanmugham.
I must confess I missed shooting the Marriammen Sion Koliwada feast , this has the largest number of hijras in attendance and a hijra used to pierce his cheeks , the pictures of the hijras and the hijra piercing I have completely removed from public view .. I have over 20000 images old new of the hijra community that only I can see ...Indians sorry to say are not mature enough for the hijra documentary their life their struggle , they only see them as objects of sexual desire and I do no t want my pictures to fall in that category so you dont see them at all.
This Happens Only In India ..
besides
gang rape
acid throwing
dowry burning
police encounter
scams corruption
booth capturing
murder sodomy
arson gundagiri
hafta ..bhaigiri
paon main ghungroo
aur mathe par bindiya
this happens only in india
Extreme Possession on the Beach
Anamika the little Koli girl who pierces her tongue with the trishul goes into extreme possession ..
Spiritual Possession Or Devi Entering the Human Body
Spiritual Possession Or Devi Entering the Human Body, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
As soon as the Arti began I dont know what came over me I went into a trance and fell down on the floor with my cameras, and I was soon lifted on my feet.. I began shooting this sequence of the spiritual trance or spiritual possession a very integral part of Goddess worship..
Goddess Marriammen is deity in the avatar of Goddess Kali or Goddess Durga and is fervently worshiped by the Hindu Tamils and the Maharashtrians of Macchimar Colony Mahim.
At the Mahim beach during the puja a lot of people went into a trance including the high priest and his assistant.
This is the essence of what I deliriously shoot like a mad man and this is the genre of my photography.
Dont ask me questions just see my pictures I dont ask questions of the people I shoot , the people I shoot have faces I dont ask their names.
I know the name of the head priest and their children suffices in a situation such as this.
And honestly why should media shoot such mundane stuff..on hot burning Sunday afternoon with or without shoes..
I shoot barefeet burning my sole to keep my flesh alive.
-
Shah-e-Mardan Sher-e-Yazdan Quwat-e-Parwardigar Lafata Ila Ali La Saif Ila Zulfiqar , originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1 ....
-
Dargah of Hazrat Syed Ali Mira Datar Unava Gujrat , a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr. HAZRAT SYED ALI MIRA DATAR'S G...
