In the village of Shirgaon in Goa‘s Bicholim taluka lies the old temple of Goddess Lairai, a form of the Mother Goddess. The annual jatra (festival) associated with this shrine features unusual customs & rituals drawn from the area’s tribal past. Lairai-devi and Milagres Saibinn (Virgin Mary) of nearby Mapusa are recognized as sisters by…
Dark monsoon clouds hang low on the Western Ghats overlooking the 12th C Mahadeva (Shiva) temple in the village of Tambdi Surla, Goa. Many great Goan temples were destroyed by the Portuguese but this exquisitely carved gem, set in a remote jungle clearing, escaped unscathed probably because of its isolation. It is today the oldest…
Colourful stucco artwork depicting scenes from the Ramayana lines the walls of the Anjaneya temple inside the massive Bekal fort in the Kasargod district of Kerala.
Flying over the state of Kerala in southern India, the visitor is struck by what seems to be an endless panoply of palm fronds blanketing the land. This dense spread of the coconut tree has come to represent Kerala’s topographic signature. It serves as our motif in the sequence of photographs below. Here in the…
Badami in the the state of Karnataka, India, is known for its ancient rock-cut temples. The sandstone ridge, overlooking the town, is set afire every day moments before sundown. In the image below, the Bhootnath temple is also seen on the banks of the lake.
