If veneration takes you anywhere in Sri Lanka, then Kataragama should be one of your first places to visit. Thousands of devotees and pilgrims from various religious backgrounds, particularly Hindus and Buddhists, gather here to seek the divine intervention of Lord Murugan, God Skanda or Kataragama deviyo. In fact, Kataragama is considered the home of true sanctity.
The annual Kataragama Esala festival in July is another spectacle of devoutness. The Hindu devotees from the North and the East make their annual foot pilgrimage, Pada Yatra, to the holy city of Kataragama to take part in the 15 day-annual festival.
Although the festival this time concluded last week, the moods, sight and sounds of drum beating and the display of light will reverberate in the hearts of thousands of pilgrims and devotees at Kataragama even long after the ceremony.
Diversity of expression
I visited this colourful holy city at the height of its festival last week. As a photographer, what most impressed me were the many moods I encountered there – the many faces and the diversity of their expression.
A portrait of God Skanda or Kataragama deviyo
Thousands of devotees clad in white, red, blue and orange clothes, thronged in front of the main devale with poojas.
Inside the devale, the kapuralas were hastily accepting the poojas and swamis with long white beards clad in red clothes blessed the devotees with fanning peacock feathers. Kavadi dancers and Vel carrying swamis were a sight to behold.
Having paid my devotion to God Skanda, I captured the essence of the holy city – the faces, the moods, and the sights. When I was photographing in the main shrine of Kataragama, I came across fascinating characters for my narrative this week.
I saw Hindu pilgrims among those who came to Kataragama from the Eastern Province to take part in the annual festival, and I felt that they would make a good subject for striking portraits with vibrant costumes. I was lucky to get some fascinating shots of these devotees and swamis at Kataragama. Besides present cultural relevance, this holy place of Kataragama will continue to wield a powerful influence as long as people feel the need for, and continue to believe in, the power of divine intervention in human affairs. Kataragama indeed is a sacred place, one where religious and ethnic divisions fade away and thousands of Sri Lankans come together to invoke the blessings of God Skanda or Kataragama Deviyo.
