***FLYING HIGH***, a photo from West Bengal, East

Photographer's Note

I shot it in a interior village of west bengal ,INDIA at GAJAN MELA(FAIR).fOCAL LENGTH=36MM..
Gajan a Shaivite folk festival, held on CHAITRA SANGKRANTI (the last day of Chaitra..according to eng calendar ,its in middle of april) and on full moon nights up to the full moon of Asadh. The festival is associated with various gods. There may thus be SHIVA's Gajan, the Gajan of DHARMA THAKUR, the Gajan of Nil etc. But the main object of this festival is to celebrate the marriage of the sun and the earth. The reason for this festival is perhaps to appease the sun and pray for rain during the hot, dry month of Chaitra.
The festival is arranged on the premises of Shiva temples. Those who take part in the festival after making vows are called sannyasi or bhaktya. They take sacrificial food and wear uturi (wrappers). Each one holds a staff. They try to satisfy the god through different acts of penance, such as piercing their tongues with nails, jumping upon thorns, walking on burning charcoal, etc. CHADAK PUJA is performed on the occasion of the Gajan festival. During this festival, processions are brought out from the premises of the temple of Shiva and taken to other villages. A pair of processionists take the roles of Shiva and Gauri and render dances. Other bhaktyas take the roles of Nandi, Bhrngi, ghosts and spirits, monsters and demons and dance along with Shiva and Gauri. During this time different verses are recited narrating the story of how Shiva's sleep was disturbed and going on to his marriage, his agricultural activities etc. This festival usually lasts for three days. During the gajan on Chaitra Samkranti, Kali dances are also performed in some places describing how the goddess slaughtered the monster Asura.
***In this shot the sannyasis hanging themselves on charak pole.***
By courtesy:-banglapedia

isabela_sor, arnabchat, delnaja, Elaine_Blath, partha, nivaldo, ramesh_lalwani, riclopes, noborders has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

isabela_sor (47748) 2007-04-18 6:30 [Comment]

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arnabchat (7233) 2007-04-18 6:37

oh ho ho! i was waiting for someone to post something from Charak! I found myself to be loner last year! :(
Great take, a wonderful shot.
Subir, I have a very few this time, and I'll post soon. You can see something with the Ganja in my last post though! :)
Best,
Arnab

wolf38 (30) 2007-04-18 6:40

Hello Subir. A convincing photo with strong graphic elements and the dominating colors black and blue. The motive is seen outstanding and realized. Very beautifully. Best regards, Wolfgang.

anandselvi (1728) 2007-04-18 7:16

A fine idea this counterlighted view with highspeed a bit outcentered, some personal remarks still, a standing shot was maybe here also possible to enhance the hight, don't know if you shoot RAW but there is a possibilty to regain the texturing in the white overblown clouds by lower exposure and last here a sharpening on a dark layer was also possible to avoid totaly the white halo around some and it could enhance all the birds more at the same. Maybe these tips could be usefull to consider for you in the way up to perfection.
A good shot Subir.
Henk

giritli (465) 2007-04-18 7:20

Very good capture. Shadows of the people with the very beautiful blue sky. It is very difficult to take these kind of pictures. You did a great job. Congragulations...

anupamd (8) 2007-04-18 7:24 [Comment]

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delnaja (2056) 2007-04-18 7:36

stunning and beautiful result! The silhouettes against the blue sky... maybe in a vertical format?

marianita (3455) 2007-04-18 7:47

Subir
excellent work! looks like so much fun! excellent colour blue contrasting with teh dark silouettes
excellent
marianna

Elaine_Blath (8471) 2007-04-18 8:48

Hi Subir,

very, very graphical image, nicely off-centered, well done!

Take care, Ivana

sabyasachi1212 (19779) 2007-04-18 9:06

Hi Subir,
As usual your POV is flawless, nicely formed silhouettes against the blue sky, frozen action shot. The only thing that bothers me is the texture of the clouds.
Best Wishes
Sabyasachi

bhorerpakhi (559) 2007-04-18 10:49

Hello Subir Da, Chobir concept ta khubi bhalo onno keu hole 2/2 ditam kintu apnar khetre pachhi na. Megh gulo ekdum unnatural hoye geche.
Poulomi

partha (14023) 2007-04-18 14:47

Hi SUBIR,
Amazing angle of view. Very useful note and great way of taking the shot. The clouds little bit bother me . Still it is a nice documentary shot.
In which village do you have it?
Partha

nivaldo (15417) 2007-04-19 8:37 [Comment]

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ramesh_lalwani (3213) 2007-04-19 11:35

Hi Subir
Excellent POV.It lovely to see clouds and blue sky background.Ramesh

kiks (12805) 2007-04-26 8:29

Hi Subir,

great sillouet photo! The low POV increses the hight and the colors of the sky with the enormus clouds gives more drama. Are the black dots, birds?
TFS
Kiks

sayan (2617) 2007-05-01 3:16

Hello Subir,
The pov is great here, like every post of yours. The backdrop of clear blue sky worked well to give a silhouette look of the men hanging there. Overall a prize catch.
regards

Sayan

vagabondtravels (6511) 2007-05-01 8:56

Hi Subir

Interesting view of this local festival. Great bg and very sharp. Some crazy swings. Great capture of this festival. Well done.
Ben

jafadabret (56501) 2007-05-05 8:28

Subir, c'est une photo qui mйrite beaucoup plus qu'un simple passage. J'aime ces silhouettes dans le ciel sublime. C'est un clichй d'une grande beautй et trиs poйtique.
Jacques

rozy975 (3047) 2007-06-02 12:38

Just gorgeous!
Blue is just perfect.
Well done!

-------------------------
"An eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind." Mahatma Ghandi

riclopes (35577) 2007-06-02 13:31

Olб Subir, fantastic shot! The sillouettes give a wonderful graphic impact and the sky is beautiful and perfect to give contrast to the scene.
Ricardo

smarcell (19965) 2007-10-10 5:32

This is also great ! Not only for the light, the POV and whatsoever, but also for the subject. It is very interesting, this structure, very simple, made of ropes and sticks.

noborders (1010) 2007-11-29 9:35

Hi Subir, I had missed this one and found it in your randoms today : nice silhouettes so high in the blue sky, great POV and a lovely subject : TFS !
Best regards,
Cheers,
Cath.

Photo Information

Copyright: SUBIR BASAK (photographer123) (6248)
Genre: ЛЮДИ
Medium: ЦВЕТНОЙ
Date Taken: 2007-04-14
Categories: ФЕСТИВАЛИ
Camera: Sony DSC-H2
Exposure: f/8, 1/250 секунд
More Photo Info: view
Версия: Оригинальная версия
Темы: my favorites..., MOTION, your's favorite, "INDIA photos that I'd like to remember (III) [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-04-18 6:14
Избранное: 1 [view]