Udayan Joarder

In the afternoon, the idol is kept in an open field where the devotees offer prayer. Here one such family is offering their prayer with a request – Do come again Mom in the next year.

A unique style of immersion of Durga idol is found in a village of Purulia. The villagers carry the idol in a bullock cart , having iron wheels. After a parikrama of the entire village in the afternoon, the idol is kept in an open field where the snake charmers show their snakes to Devi Durga. Here two such snake charmers are offering their prayer with a request – Do come again Mom in the next year, so that we can live merrily.

India’s largest camel, horse and cattle fair in Pushkar starts with the Hindu calendar month of Kartik and ends on the Kartik Purnima. Buyers and sellers of live stock congregate in a barren, dry and deserted ground of Pushkar for trading of animals. They are forced to stay for 8/9 days over there . The late night and early morning during that time in Pushkar is very cool and the visitors arrage fire by collecting dry leaves and twigs in various places in the field. Here is one such group of people taking the warmth in a morning.

The Rabha community in Assam worship the goddess of snake, Manasa during the Shravana Sankranti in Kamakshya Temple by the vibrant Deodhwani Festival. Temple dancers, also known as ‘Deodhas’, bring together a perfect blend of dance, music and devotion to please the goddess of power at the Neelachal Hills. They are said to be in a sublime phase during these three days and carry weapons like swords, daggers etc. The image shows the dance performane of Deodhas in the temple.

Hola Mohalla is a three-day long Sikh festival which normally falls in March, usually a day after the Hindu spring festival Holi. This is an occasion for the Sikhs to demonstrate their martial skills in simulated battles. This was probably done to forestall a grimmer struggle against the imperial power and channeling people’s energy into a more useful activity. Hola Mahalla became an annual event held in an open ground near Holgarh, a fort across the rivulet Charan Ganga, northwest of Anandpur sahib. Here is a cross section of the fair where a group of Sikhs are enjoying Gatta and playing with sword etc.

The people in the rural people in our country is mainly dependent on agriculture, fisheries and animal husbandry and some vocational activities. So is the situation in Canning of West Bengal. A section of People earns their livelihood from the river Matla by fishing. The children in Canning grow in that way since birth. Here is an image showing a group of children playing with the boat in the river Matla during low tides.