Travel Blogs

Travel, Document, Portraits, Street Photography Mahesh Balasubramanian Travel, Document, Portraits, Street Photography Mahesh Balasubramanian

Kulasai Dasara Festival, 2023

The Sri Mutharmman temple resides in Kulasekharapattinam village near Tiruchendur, approximately 55 km south of Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, India. It's a hub of celebration during Dasara, drawing in a massive crowd of devotees. What sets this festival apart is its distinctive practice: devotees aren't required to spend their own money. Instead, they embark on a door-to-door alms collection, using the contributions solely for token offerings at the shrine.

On the climactic day, the once desolate coastal village transforms into a lively carnival along the seashores. The air fills with the melodies of folk music, and devotees adorned in elaborate costumes engage in folk dances. Their purpose? To seek the blessings of Sri Muthramman, revered as the incarnation of Sakthi, the consort of Lord Shiva in Hinduism, or to express gratitude for the blessings received.

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Travel, Document, Portraits, Street Photography Mahesh Balasubramanian Travel, Document, Portraits, Street Photography Mahesh Balasubramanian

Kulasai & Udangudi, 2022

Sri Mutharmman temple is located at Kulasekharapattinam village near Tiruchendur 55 km south of Tuticorin, Tamilnadu, India. In this temple, Dasara is celebrated as a big festival. Lakhs of people are assembled here to celebrate this festival. The uniqueness and oddity of the festival is that the devotees need not spend from their pockets. They are expected to beg alms from door to door and token offerings only are expected to be offered at the shrine after meeting their expenses. On a climatic day, the sea shores of this otherwise deserted coastal village turn into a veritable carnival of folk music and folk dance of the devotees in their chosen fancy dresses to either solicit the grace of or to thank for the boon granted by the presiding deity Sri Muthramman considered to be the incarnation of Sakthi the consort of Lord Shiva in Hinduism.

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Travel, Document Mahesh Balasubramanian Travel, Document Mahesh Balasubramanian

Kulasekarapattinam Dasara 2019

Sri Mutharmman temple is located at Kulasekharapattinam village near Tiruchendur 55 km south of Tuticorin, Tamilnadu, India. In this temple Dasara is being celebrated as a big festival. Lakhs of people are assemble here to celebrate this festival. The uniqueness and oddity of the festival is that the devotees need not spend from their pocket. They are expected to beg alms from door to door and a token offerings only is expected to be offered at shrine after meeting out their expenses. On the climatic day the sea shores of this otherwise deserted coastal village turns into veritable carnival of folk music and folk dance of the devotees in their chosen fancy dresses to either solicit the grace of or to thank for the boon granted by presiding deity Sri Muthramman considered to be the incarnation of Sakthi the consort of Lord Shiva in Hinduism.

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Document, Boats Mahesh Balasubramanian Document, Boats Mahesh Balasubramanian

Boats

Boats play a very important role for people who live by rivers or lakes or sea. Day to day life of them highly depends on boats in various ways, especially for transport. Boats have a wide variety of sizes, designs and construction methods due to their intended purposes. Some of them are used for transport and some of them are used for fishing. Some boats are used for sports also.

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Koovagam, Festival, Document Mahesh Balasubramanian Koovagam, Festival, Document Mahesh Balasubramanian

Koovagam Festival

Koothandavar festival is the biggest annual transgenders festival in India. It is a celebration of love and death, of sacrifice and life. The festival takes place at the Koothandavar Temple dedicated to Aravaan. The transgenders marry Lord Aravaan, thus reenacting an ancient myth of Lord Krishna who married Aravaan after taking a form of a woman called Mohini. The next day, all transgenders mourn the god Aravaan death through ritualistic dances and by breaking their bangles and removing their mangalsutra.

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