a s o u t h i n d i a n w e d d i n g 'Cleanse Thy Feet'

The ninth in my series on 'A South Indian Wedding'. 'Cleanse Thy

Feet'. This is time when the father-in-law cleanses the bridegrooms

feet and applies 'sandanam' (sandalwood paste) and kungumam (a red

powder) on the feet. This is done because the 'Maapillai'

(Bridegroom) is conisdered the form of the god 'Vishnu' before

the 'Kanyaa Dhaanam'. Look forward to the next in the series of 'A

South Indan Wedding' A small request - i would like the members to

see all the photographs in this series in totality as this is more of

a series and a story rather than individual photographs :)

Nice and interesting photo journalism shot! Well done.

I think I'll skip this particular ritual in mine :).. Pradeep u are scaring me.

Vikram, I agree on that point, its scary that an elderly person cleans your feet, but it is something if you go against, you have to take the wrath of the elders :)

Hehehe. This is why doing weddings outside India can sometimes be easier, i.e. in terms of getting rid of certain rituals that you don't particularly agree with. There's obviously opposition, but somehow it doesn't seem as impossible as when you would be doing it in India. Also you can negotiate for a shorter wedding ceremony, which my wife and I certainly wanted.

You're really serious on these wedding rituals.

I never thought "cleansing" of the feet were

a part of this. It reminded me of that act

that Jesus Christ did, washing the feet of one of His deciple as a symbolic act or something... Thanks for sharing Pradeep...

Actually, Sally, this doesn't happen in all Hindu wedding ceremonies. That isn't to say it is bad or good whether or not it is done. The specific rituals that will be used are sometimes rather dependant on the particular Hindu social grouping and region. Although it seems that the groom does certainly get Godly treatment. I always wondered why the bride shouldn't be treated with such royal and divine treatment.

A tight and well arranged study of a religeous? cleansing ceremony. I can't think of any way in which it might be improved. Congratulations.

 

Interesting subject matter, and maybe the only shot that should have been in B and W, ie with sufficient, or too much contrast..Why are you afraid to use color?? We could have had a feast of colors here, with much f2 or 2.8 work, to blur for and backgrounds....This one, is now simply a close up photo of hands washing feet. The controls that could have/should have been used to make it and extra ordinary photo would have been. 18mm lens, therefore much closer, with some distortion. A one second shutter speed to get some blur in the hands, and show more water, to indicate movement, as this is one of the few dynamic shots.. Leave out the legs of the person doing the washing for a stricter composition.. . Move around a little to obscure background, or use f3.5 with slow film speed for OOF backgr. Camera angle and lighting are good. On closer examination, there appears to be a pourer with two hands and a washer with one hand.. . And... something above the pourers hands, which I cant figure out...All those making the composition unclear.. This sort of shot would have needed half a dozen or so attempts, and maybe, doing so, as someone already suggested on another shot, by keeping the camera at the eye, and every time the pix gelled, taking a shot. Out of 6, u would get one perfect one..So, an interesting shot, but why not also make it an extra ordinary shot??? Photojournalism can or rather should be, with shots that have been manipulated, BEFORE shooting, to bring out the qualities we discussed. Once surfing the Pro Leica shooters portfolios, I came across a Portuguese lady whose every single wartime, conflict time, shots were WOW, and possibly she was in danger during some of those SNATCHED, BUT photographically controlled shots...Namaste..