‘Amma gets angry and goes away to the sea’
In the Tamil month of Maasi, the Irular community gathers on the beaches of Mamallapuram near Chennai to appease their goddess Kanniamma and bring her home to worship. All along the waterfront, priests are solemnising weddings, naming babies and offering blessings
March 12, 2024 | Smitha Tumuluru
In Gangrel: dance of the displaced deity
In southern Chhattisgarh, Gangrel madai is a day-long festival celebrated by Gond adivasis who come from all across the state
January 31, 2024 | Purusottam Thakur
Ugadi celebrations, power and identity
The annual Ugadi festival in Andhra Pradesh's Medapuram is a grand affair, organised by the Madiga community who brought the idol to their town
October 27, 2023 | Naga Charan
Athipattu's idol maker keeps fisherfolk safe
In Thiruvallur district, Dilli anna gives life to Kannisamy – the guardian deity of fishing communities in north Chennai. The idols are made using clay and paddy husk, both of which are becoming increasingly difficult to source in the rapidly urbanising area
September 18, 2023 | M. Palani Kumar
'Our mud idol was replaced with a stone one’
In Tamil Nadu’s Bangalamedu village, an Irular community witnesses a slow transition in familiar ways of worshipping and celebrating their beloved goddess
August 31, 2023 | Smitha Tumuluru
The firecracker artisans of Tulunadu
In one of the many syncretic traditions of Karnataka, it is Muslim men who make and throw firecrackers for religious and cultural events across faiths. A film on garnal saibers and this unusual art
August 7, 2023 | Faisal Ahmed
Chadar Badni puppets at Santhal festival
Tapan Murmu is a young Santhal Adivasi farmer in Birbhum who also performs with puppets during the harvest festival – an art he worries has few takers among his generation
July 21, 2023 | Smita Khator
Raas Mahotsav and the satras of Majuli
This annual festival in Assam is a much-anticipated event with performances held across many venues. Migration and fading interest from the younger generation is making it difficult to find performers
May 19, 2023 | Prakash Bhuyan
Bhutas of Tulunadu: spirit of syncretic tradition
In this region of Karnataka that lies on the coast of the Arabian Sea, different communities come together for bhuta worship. A film on the heritage of Syed Nasir and his musical troupe who perform at these rituals
April 26, 2023 | Faisal Ahmed
Celebrating Saga Dawa in Ladakh
This is an important festival for Tibetan Buddhists here in Hanle River Valley. In the first celebration after the pandemic, six hamlets come together amidst the beating of drums and blowing of trumpets
January 16, 2023 | Ritayan Mukherjee
Bastar’s bamboo-barrelled guns
At the annual Goncha festival in Chhattisgarh, local Adivasi communities have a unique guard of honour
November 29, 2022 | Thamir Kashyap
The little Ganesh near Sainagar dargah
A favourite of children in Andhra's Anantapur town, Vinayaka Chavithi festivities go on for a few more weeks
November 16, 2022 | Rahul M.
Crafting Diwali diyas for eight decades in Vizag
S. Paradesam has made lakhs of diyas to light up homes celebrating Diwali. The 92-year-old is the last potter in Visakhapatnam’s Kummari Veedhi making lamps for the festival
October 24, 2022 | Amrutha Kosuru
Marking Muharram in Suru valley
The rituals of Muharram observed by Shia Muslims go on for days in Tai Suru village of Ladakh’s Kargil district. For the children, especially girls, it is a chance to meet friends and spend long hours together
August 8, 2022 | Shubhra Dixit
Kite makers craft Gujarat’s Sankranti skies
The harsh lives of the women kite makers of Khambhat and Ahmedabad stand out in stark contrast against the brilliantly coloured skies they light up with their labour
January 13, 2022 | Pratishtha Pandya
Dhakis for Durga: without skipping a drumbeat
The drums of Agartala’s dhakis are already pounding, with Durga Puja beginning on October 11. At other times, these drummers ply cycle rickshaws, or work as vendors, farmers, plumbers and electricians
October 8, 2021 | Sayandeep Roy
A billion salutations to Gautam Buddha
wo mothers and their daughters, from Majalgaon in Beed district, sing in devotion to Gautam Buddha. Their songs highlight his presence in people's daily lives, and how he leads his followers through his teachings
May 26, 2021 | Namita Waikar and PARI GSP Team
‘Dancing like flowers in a garland’
At celebrations and commemorations during the winter months, young men and women from Chhattisgarh's Gond community travel together to perform the Hulki Mandri and Kolang dances, and sing Rela songs
March 30, 2021 | Purusottam Thakur
Vizag potters: idols of clay, immersion in debt
The artisans in this AP city earn the most during the festival season – starting with Ganesh Chaturthi this week. But they have not received a single bulk order for Ganesh idols and other products so far this year
August 22, 2020 | Amrutha Kosuru
A melting pot of lockdown losses
The Ganpati festival starting this week, then Durga Puja and Diwali, were peak seasons for potters in Delhi's Uttam Nagar. Now, they are looking at a period of poor sales, as are potters in Kachchh and West Bengal
August 17, 2020 | Srishti Verma
Daivas, dance and divine intervention
In this centuries-old ritual event in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, impersonators tell stories of forgotten heroes from Dalit communities, solve disputes, and provide catharsis
July 30, 2020 | Nidhi Shetty
In Odisha, celebrating against the grain
In Odisha’s Kandhamal district, Adivasi women have preserved indigenous seeds for generations; at an annual festival, they come together to discuss and exchange seeds through rituals and celebration
July 18, 2020 | Rakhi Ghosh
The ‘people’s god’ of Suryapet
Tens of thousands of pilgrims come from the villages of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to the Urs of Hazrat Janpak Shaheed – many drawn by an enduring faith in the dargah, some for brisk business at the venue
February 27, 2020 | Harinath Rao Nagulavancha
Fuming and fearsome, dancing and whipping
During the Bonalu festival every year, Posani Ashwin, an auto-parts dealer in Hyderabad, transforms into the Pothuraju, a deity believed to ward off diseases – 'possessed', he blesses and enthralls the crowds
September 26, 2019 | Sreelakshmi Prakash
The designers of Dhoolpet’s deities
An array of artisans, most of them migrants, come to Hyderabad months before the ongoing Ganesh Chaturthi festival to make idols, but say the work is not regular now due to cheaper items in the market
September 6, 2019 | Sreelakshmi Prakash
God’s own dressmakers in Madurai
The historic Azhagar festival in Madurai – its last day is today, April 22 – includes a huge procession where some devotees sport colourful costumes. But who their dressmakers are is even more interesting
April 22, 2019 | Kavitha Muralidharan
Recalling a recent Diwali in a Warli hamlet
Away from the fireworks and city lights, in an Adivasi pada just outside Mumbai, my family celebrated Diwali this year like they do every year, with traditional delicacies, community rituals, reverence of nature, and joy
November 22, 2018 | Mamta Pared
Performing Ramkatha in a changed Ayodhya
During the Dussehra month, the ragtag Ramkatha Singing Party dashes off from stage to stage, before returning to their day jobs, even as the retelling of the epic is engulfed by contemporary politics
October 19, 2018 | Joydip Mitra
Marking a different milestone on Dussehra
In 1956, on Dussehra day, Dr. Ambedkar publicly rejected the Hindu faith. Radhabai Borhade and Walhabai Takankhar sing about this landmark event and of Buddha’s renunciation, for the Grindmill Songs Project
October 18, 2018 | Namita Waikar and PARI GSP Team
Bengal meets Baroda to sculpt Ganpati idols
Migrant artisans from West Bengal blend idol-making styles in Vadodara, where some, like Tapan Mondal, run signature workshops, while many also work as farm labourers, house painters or in other jobs
September 17, 2018 | Ujjawal Krishnam
Summit of the ancestor gods at Semargaon
Every four years, Gond Adivasis bring their clan’s deities to a festival in Semargoan village of Chhattisgarh to make offerings to their ancestors, seek their advice and create a space for the ‘deceased’ to mingle too
August 27, 2018 | Purusottam Thakur
Gathering at the campfires of Niyamgiri
At the Niyamgiri plateau in Odisha, the Dongria Kondhs gather for a colourful festival every year. But with ever-present threats of mining, this celebration also speaks of a growing need to protect their homeland
April 27, 2018 | Purusottam Thakur
'Someday we will be accepted'
The Koovagam festival in Tamil Nadu, which ends on April 25 this year, draws many transgender persons. They come here to sing, dance, cry and pray – but mostly, to be themselves without fear of ostracism
April 23, 2018 | Ritayan Mukherjee
'Brother-sister are oranges from the same tree’
For Diwali, here are 13 ovi related to Bhaubeej from the Grindmill Songs Project – celebrating the ties between brothers and sisters. The singer is Shahubai Kamble of Nandgaon village in Pune district
October 19, 2017 | Namita Waikar and PARI GSP Team
Melodies that thrive like marigold
Dussehra, on September 30 this year, is celebrated in a few songs in the Grindmill Songs Project. This week, we feature three ovi sung in 1999 by Shahubai Kamble of Nandgaon village, that describe the festive rituals
September 29, 2017 | Namita Waikar and PARI GSP Team
Melodies of Mahila Holi in Munsiari
In the villages of Uttarakhand's Kumaon region, Holi festivities are a time for women to dance and let their songs echo amid the mountains. A photo story for a PARI series on International Women’s Day
March 17, 2017 | Arpita Chakrabarty
The song of Sohrai
During the harvest festival in January, Santal women in Chirchirya hamlet in Bihar sing about their way of life while men play the instruments, and there is a feast and some mahua as well
March 16, 2017 | Shreya Katyayini
Kuttikkuthira of Kerala: children, chariots and festive cheer
In Karthikappally and other villages along the backwaters of Alappuzha district in Kerala, children make their own chariots and participate with gusto in an annual ritualistic procession
February 3, 2017 | V. Sasikumar
Journey through Kumartuli
At the centuries-old potters' colony in Kolkata, artisans work through the night on the clay idols that they will soon send out to the city for Durga Puja
September 12, 2016 | Sinchita Parbat
When the cows come home in Parkidih
During the 'go-bnadna' festival – a time of earth colours, wall painting, music and games – the Santals of Purulia district in West Bengal offer thanks to their cows
July 4, 2016 | Arunava Patra
Ma Bonbibi, mother to humans and tigers
The jungle goddess of the Sundarbans in West Bengal demands that Hindus and Muslims unite in upholding her pact with the animal kingdom
April 16, 2016 | Shatarupa Bhattacharyya
Devotion, perforation and pain in Purulia
The Gajan ritual in West Bengal inverts caste hierarchies, if only for a fortnight
September 9, 2015 | Madhabi Maity
A Sahariya Holi
People of the Sahariya community of Baran district in Rajasthan – among the poorest districts in the state – prepare to celebrate Holi and the harvest
June 11, 2015 | Sweta Daga
The Tubri competition
The Purbannapara community of Makardah village in West Bengal holds an annual 'protijogita' for making the brightest and biggest 'tubri' or firework-candle
December 23, 2014 | Madhusree Mukerjee
Hoisa Shigmo!
Goa's 'Hindu carnival' -- a traditional folk festival -- only has men participants
