On the trail of the divine
A reminder that faith and worship are omnipresent in India, part of a grand symphonic ensemble
Curated By: Amit Pasricha
AYUDHA PUJA, MYSURU
A wrestler prostrates himself before a shrine to the goddess Durga at a garadi mane (a traditional school of wrestling) in Mysuru. The patron deity is usually Hanuman, while Ayudha Puja, performed on the day before Dussehra, involves the consecration of weapons and instruments of trade to Durga. Pictures of other deities adorn the walls, and the mud shrine is decorated with turmeric and vermilion, with the wrestlers’ wooden maces and dumb-bells planted in the mud around the goddess.
A wrestler prostrates himself before a shrine to the goddess Durga at a garadi mane (a traditional school of wrestling) in Mysuru. The patron deity is usually Hanuman, while Ayudha Puja, performed on the day before Dussehra, involves the consecration of weapons and instruments of trade to Durga. Pictures of other deities adorn the walls, and the mud shrine is decorated with turmeric and vermilion, with the wrestlers’ wooden maces and dumb-bells planted in the mud around the goddess.
