At the End of the Ratri

After the all-night colour and sounds of Mahasivaratri, the approaching dawn brings time for quiet reflection. And a selfie. Kaileswaram Temple, Captain’s Garden, Maradana. March 2024.

^{• 14mm • f/4 • 1/40 • ISO1250 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

Light in the Darkness

Mahasivaratri, amongst its many significances, is seen as a triumph of light over darkness and ignorance. Kaileswaram Temple, Captain’s Garden, Maradana. March 2024.

^{• 14mm • f/4 • 1/60 • ISO800 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

^{• 14mm • f/4 • 1/60 • ISO4000 •}

^{• 14mm • f/4 • 1/60 • ISO2500 •}

Divine Privacy

Behind a curtain, offerings of food are made to Lord Ganesh on Mahasivaratri. Kailesvaram Temple, Captain’s Gardens, Maradana. March 2024.

^{• 14mm • f/4 • 1/60 • ISO1250 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

The Great Night of Shiva

Mahasivaratri, Sri Lanka. March 2024. Kaileswaram Temple, Maradana.

^{• 14mm • f/4 • 1/60 • ISO1000 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

^{• 35mm • f/4 • 1/50 • ISO1250 •}

^{• 35mm • f/4 • 1/80 • ISO640 •}

Ratri Pooja

Sri Muthumariamman Temple, Sea Street, Pettah. September 2023.

^{• 35mm • f/4 • 1/50 • ISO3200 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

Gods of the Old City #2

Sooran Poar festival, Muthumariamman Kovil, Sea Street, Pettah. November 2023.

^{• 14mm • f/4 • 1/80 • ISO1250 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

Bright and Holy

Colourfully decorated canopy over the main eastern entrance to the moolasthanam (the central shrine room) of the Naagapoosani Amman Temple. Located on Nainativu Island, off the western coast of the Jaffna Peninsula, the kovil is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Parvati, who is worshipped here in the form of Naagapoosani (the Goddess Who Wears Snakes as Jewellery); hence the incorporation of serpent motifs into much of the designs. The original temple, estimated to have been built before the 9th century, was destroyed by the Portuguese in 1620. The current building, though renovated and embellished many times (with significant additions between 2010 and 2012), was constructed over a period of seven decades in the mid-18th century. Shot in March 2014.

The Temple of the Goddess Who Wears Snakes as Jewellery*

The massive East Gopuram doorway of the Naagapoosani Amman Kovil, on Nainativu Island, off the coast of Jaffna. March 2014.

^{*Literal translation of ‘Naagapoosani Amman Kovil’.}

Side Door, Sivan Kovil

Constructed entirely in black granite carved by South Indian stoneworkers brought in especially for the job, the Sivan Kovil’s monochrome austerity stands in stark contrast to the extremely colourful Hindu temples and shrines seen throughout Sri Lanka and southern India. Located on Aluthmawatha, in Kochchikade, opposite the Colombo dockyards, this Hindu temple is also known as the Shri Ponnambalawaneswaram Kovil, after its founder and onetime patron, Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan. The Sri Lankan independence activist built the kovil in 1915.

Interior of the Sivan Kovil

Christmas Eve, 2017.