Kavada festival piercing Photo

Photographer’s Note

All ages of people (and children too) are lined up with displays of peacock feathers, dressed in orange clothes, to fall into trances and be pierced. They drank a slimy looking green fluid, then begin to wildy jump up and down. Drums beat madly the entire time. One at a time, the people are held and pierced, first faces, with a collection of different objects, some long, some thick, metal, wood, sticks, some with lemons on them. Later many people (including children) have their backs with pierced with small thin hooks. There is no blood. The participants jumped crazed for hours, someone holding onto their clothes to control them, and keep them from harm(one man required 3 people to hold him safe). When everyone was done, they marched a long time to another temple. There they waited for the parade. Their helpers pushed them to the ground, they became limp and looked like a feild of dead people. The rains poured on them. My rickshaw driver whined so much about the rain, I left in the storm, and missed the parade, with floats, bands, elephants and dancers. I was told, this is to make amends to Ganesh's brother for something wrong you did that year. Your luck will change. No one seemed to get injured no matter how wild they were. (This is a photo from last year. I cannot find a place to upload my new photos in Pokara, Nepal).

ianmcall, RGatward, Darren, c_kyr, Kenny10pin, bfly, sunny, Steely, ninadev, nwoehnl, veimann, mimi, eleparc, sengir, rahul__rahul__ has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ianmcall (1213) 2004-05-04 8:32

My ten year old, looking over my shoulder, said. "That's disgusting!" Me? I thought, "That's TE!" I love the exspression on the guy on the right doing the piercing. this is a pretty intense scene, well caught.

Pokara was great; looking forward to your posts from there.

RGatward (19737) 2004-05-04 8:42

This is just incredible, I'm typeless!

Darren (6815) 2004-05-04 8:54

A great capture Gloria and as usual, a great note. The colors here are so vibrant and the expression of the guy doing the piercing is just great. Technically, I wish you had composed a little lower, the space above the heads doesn't really do much and it would be nice if the hands weren't cropped, but what makes this really work is just what a capture it is. Good shot.

c_kyr (1810) 2004-05-04 9:09

Very nice image Gloria.
Great capture of the event.
The feelings are very well seen here.
Well done!

Kenny10pin (19301) 2004-05-04 9:10

great shot here, very tribal and authentic here, not a pleasant way of having your body pierced.

great note too

maciekda (19587) 2004-05-04 9:17

very nice picture, great moment - the way the guy is holding the other guy's head is even a bit funny, such a natural picture, great note too, good stuff

bfly (5737) 2004-05-04 9:28

I am like the guy at the very left..
very good documentary...

sunny (3068) 2004-05-04 10:47

Wow, Gloria! :-)) This is a tension! Fantastic capture of expressions and mood, as well as wonderful colours and sharpness. The tight framing makes it ever more stunning. Excellent job!

Steely (895) 2004-05-04 11:32

Ahh Didi, its Thaipusam Cavadee held for Lord Subramaniam.Very big hindu festival in Singapore and Malaysia too with a lot of ppl paying penance or return divine favours by carrying the kavadi.

Very good Capture!! :)

ninadev (5225) 2004-05-04 12:38

I don't know what to say except Ouch! and Great shot! the quality of the image but mainly the right moment where we can see the pain and tension.

luis_paulino (904) 2004-05-04 14:52

Nice photo Gloria. Great capture of this moment. The note is very good. Well done.

nwoehnl (118) 2004-05-04 15:38

Ouch, that had to hurt! Excellent timing on this capture of the moment, Gloria. I like the three main characters here - the way the guy on the left holds the head of the other one is very unique, and the expression of the "piercer" is priceless. The guy on the very left in the white shirt almost looks like he's having a thought at being sick. Great colors in this one-of-a-kind scene. Well done.

veimann (1250) 2004-05-04 16:22

Grandiose scena, Gloria! I well see as sweat of it of the man flows down on hands of the one who holds it. Very strong photo. Bravo! Well done

waskahegan (0) 2004-05-04 22:10

good capture, great colors and good composition. But is it a torture or done willingly? I agree with "ianmcall" 10 years old, he has common sense: it is disgusting.

mimi (2321) 2004-05-04 22:29

Wow! That must have been incredible to see. The expression on both the piercer and the piercee (?) are fantastic. I love the colors on their clothes and on the leis that they're wearing. Fascinating scene.

scalerman (25599) 2004-05-05 19:33

Crazy shot Gloria. The expressions are well captured.

eleparc (24059) 2004-05-08 15:25

wow! great note and great capture gloria! the man piercing seems to suffer more than the guy who is actually getting pierced;-)) india can be so surprising! did i tell you that i am going to ladakh in august?