Maryamma Feast Worli Seaface 2009

Maryamma Feast Worli Seaface 2009, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

Raja is a professional rod piercer, even the human juggernaut is prepared by him, where the participant is pierced with hooks back front and sides like a peacock..

Raja charges for the piercings..I am told, but than he desrves it , as he does it with an inborn passion, he was last year at Fishermens Colony Mahim and at Juhu too this year.


All the Maryamma event pictures are at my Flickr photo stream, last year I blogged it at my photographer no1 Wordpress site , this time its just Flickr.

They are all in separate sets..

Shooting Faith Without Boundaries

Shooting Faith Without Boundaries, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

My Guru KG Maheshwari known as the Dronacharya of Indian photography, and the Yousef Karsh of India, who has shot Mahatma Gandhi during the Freedom struggle as he stayed at the Birla House and finally married a fairy princess of the Birla household..always reprimanded me during public meetings or event at our club , Photographic Society of India for being trigger happy with my camera, and each roll I shot was a Velvia or a Provia or an Ilford Delta 100 the mother of all black and white films, and it cost money , a lot of money plus processing contact sheet and prints , and I was a million light years away from the computer and the internet.

I opted for photography as I had come out of a chronic alcoholism, the psychiatrist had warned me to keep myself busy , and to take up a hobby that would keep me in a drunken state..or a similar passion as I had for Old Monk Rum..I drank two bottles to keep my wretched body alive, I read books but I had not got into writing poems or my thoughts ..nine years back..Blogging began in 2005 and love on the Internet made me a pedestrian poet of sorts ..my second polygamous marriage would have been an American from Alaska ..luckily the kids and the wife tied me beat the shit out of my dreams..And I am fairly sane now ..Flickr has added to my sanity.

Well I shot a lot , the first time I shot Moharam, at Amin Imambada I shot 40 rolls on a single camera , I shot as though there was no tomorrow, I was shooting Shiasm the sect I belong to after 17 years not only as a photographer but as a Shia through the viewfinder of my soul.I was never into religious congregation..

Joining the PSI Mumbai Photographic Society of India , my three Gurus , Shreekanth Malushte , Prof BW Jatkar and Mr KG Maheshwari changed my life forever..I never looked back..

Than a trip to Khwajah Gharib Nawaz at Ajmer Sharif and Lord Brahma in Pushkar changed me further from a mere photographer I became a blogger thanks to Brandon Stone of Photo Blogs Org..I joined Blogspot and Buznet , Fotothing Webshots..I was a Flickr member too I deleted my first account, I found I have another account an old one here as Fotographerno1.

The rest you know I joined Flickr back again in 2007 ..now 77,174 items / 398,466 views, in retrospection I have continued shooting pictures , I cant be like a hot shot photographer from the media who takes a few shot and moves away, I shoot a lot, I shoot with my eyes closed its a Sufi saying .. I know what I shoot will be perhaps for the last time I am mortal my body ravaged by diabetes.. I dont want to miss out anything yes I am an alcoholic when it comes to Photography and I am shocked by my moderation.


I have not gone back to my camera club, I stopped all Salon participations , competitions, I dont make prints, I dont give prints, I dont sell pictures , and I share my world with all of you as you out there who shoot tomatoes covered in cloth that look like monks running towards a Path of Peace..Thank you Arrowlakelass ..I learn a lot from all of you.. only you dont know it..

We all contribute to each othe as brother photographers and if you are a photographer there is no way you can be a bigot.. only a poet at Poemhunter can fall into a trap of becoming a racist..or a bigot.

Those who shower me with hate comments on my Shia and Hindu pictures are not photographers , they are propaganda nuisance of free membership without transparency as promoted by Flickr to be one up on Facebook.

I know somebody who wanted to recruit me into another sect of Islam.. made me really bleed all over again..puritanism makes me puke all over..

I belong to an Islam without hate, I belong to all religiosity that have Faith without borders ..on a land that I call Humanity..

I will now shower and go to my tailors shop where I cover men with clothes and photography uncovers my soul..bare thoughts of a barefeet photographer of Mumbai.

Shia Blogger at Worli Seaface

Shia Blogger at Worli Seaface, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

77000 Photo Blogs at Flickr in 24 Months

77000 Photo Blogs at Flickr in 24 Months, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

77,004 items / 397,753 views 20 May 20009

Today I complete 77000 photo blogs in 24 months at Flickr.

I thank all of you for making it possible..with your advice suggestions and comments.

I dedicate this post to my mentor Dr Glenn Losack MD..and am happy that he has a Pro Flickr account to showcase the brilliance of his work..We both shoot Pain..as it pierces the human soul, relentlessly in one form or the other.

At Blogspot I would have been sodomized by Word Verification for being a positive Spam..

The Human Flesh

The Human Flesh, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

the human flesh
can take so much
much more still
remain fresh
spirituality
beneath
a bleeding mesh
through rituals
divination
the soul refresh

"The seeking after knowledge of future or hidden things by inadequate means. " catholic encyclopedia..

I Dont Shoot Flowers !

I Dont Shoot Flowers !, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

This is a personal poem of pain, and has nothing to do with photographers my friends or otherwise who shoot flowers , its my general angst against the back drop of the little kids I shoot at traffic signals , so dont read it as a personal attack into your genre of photography..nor do I belittle what you shoot , its your prerogative as shooting pain is my prerogative I thought this disclaimer essential to the inner dark depths of my poem..

The only person who thinks like me on this is Dr Glenn Losack MD ..we arent slinging mud either ..

I dont shoot flowers
in dream like gardens
with expensive cameras
expensive macro lenses
No I dont shoot flowers at all
but I shoot pain
of deflowered hope
of little children
begging at traffic signals
near expensive shopping malls
on the waist of a little girl
another snotty child
very small
their miserable lives
hit by a karmic tsunami of a squall
dwarfs midgets
who will never ever grow tall
used by playful
vicious society as a punching ball
their little miserable lives
up against a barbed wire wall
I shoot these trampled flowers
if you can call them flowers
after all
their dark faces their barefeet
their fucked fate all in all
little girls who will
become child mothers
gang raped by a sucked system
that says bugger all
unshowered flesh
filthy dirty
covered in a deathly pall
you who wont see what I see
watching your game of baseball
towards the finishing line
at a traffic signal of life
as they run as they fall
those without legs
on hands as they crawl
bleeding words encrypted
as poetic scrawl
silence screamlessly
pleading against
a wailing wall

Goddess Maryamma at Worli Sea Face

Goddess Maryamma at Worli Sea Face, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariamman

Goddess Māri (Tamil: மாரி) is known as Mariamman, "Mother Mari" (Tamil: மாரியம்மன்), spelt also Maariamma (Tamil: மாரியம்மா), or simply Amman (Tamil: அம்மன்), meaning "mother". She is the main South Indian mother goddess, predominant in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Goddess Māri is also closely associated with the Hindu goddesses Parvati and Durga.

Origin

Māri originated as an ancient village goddess related to fertility and rain. In Tamil, māri means rain. This goddess was a local deity, connected to a specific location, close to a specific tree, a rock or a special spot, mostly in rural areas. Another theory regarding origin of the name arises from the fact that mari in Tamil also means change. Thus, the name Mari Amman would mean goddess who has changed. According to some sources, Mariamman is the same as Renuka or Yellamma[1].

[edit] Iconography

Māri is usually portrayed as a beautiful young woman with a red-hued face, wearing a red dress. Sometimes she is portrayed with many arms, representing her many powers, but in most representations she has only two or four. Her hands may display some mudra and her usual attributes are the trident or spear and the bowl, which are derived from stories told about her.

[edit] Goddess of Disease

Mariamman was the smallpox goddess before this disease was eradicated. Now she 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. In this form, goddess Māri is very similar to Sitala Devi[2], her counterpart in North India and the orisha Babalu Aye of the Yoruba tradition.

[edit] Fertility goddess

People also pray to Mariamman for progeny, a good spouse, etc. 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, which is a beautiful sight.
Main shrine to Mariamman in the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

[edit] Amman Temples

Most Mariamman temples are humble shrines in villages, where non-Brahmins act as priest using non-agamic rituals. In many rural shrines, the goddess has no form and 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 do officiate at them. For example, at the Samayapuram temple near the shore of river Cauvery, rich agamic traditions are followed and all rituals are performed by Gurukkal of Brahmins.

At Punainallur, near Thanjavur (Tanjore), there is another famous Māri temple. The history says that once Goddess Mariamman appeared to the King Venkoji Maharaja Chatrapati (1676 - 1688) of Tanjore, in his dream and told him that she was in a forest of Punna trees at a distance of about 3 miles 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.

Other important temples of Mariamman in Tamil Nadu are in the towns of Anbil, Narthamalai,Thiruverkadu, Salem, Virudhunagar and Sivakasi.

Another famous Mariamman temple is situated in the state of Karnataka, in the town of Kaup, 7 km from the famous temple town of Udipi.

[edit] Vedic Worship

Mariamman is the sister of Lord Vishnu (Sriranganathar) and called Mahamaya.

The Samayapuram Mariamman is also worshipped on the first day of the Tamil month of Vaikasi by the Iyengar/Srivaishna Brahmins of Srirangam. They claim that she is the sister of Lord Renganath (a form of Vishnu) of Srirangam. This is the second temple in Tamil Nadu, following Palani, regarding income.

Another version suggests that she is the mother of Parasurama, Renukadevi who is appeased for rains.

[edit] Outside India

There are many Mariamman Temples in locations outside of India, such as Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Fiji, Vietnam and South Africa, resulting from the Tamil diaspora. Some of the notable temples include the Sri Mariamman temple in Singapore, a Mariamman temple in Pretoria, South Africa, as well as one in Medan, Indonesia.