French photographer Charles Fréger documents ancient folk traditions around the world. I've featured him before, in Yokainoshima, exploring ritual figures and costumes from rural Japan, and Cimarron, looking at the Americas. He features today in the Sunday Times Magazine, this time with the focus on India:
A dancer prepares to perform in honour of the deity Virabhadra in the Bengaluru rural district
Theyyam, a ritual popular in northern Kerala, incorporates music, dance, mime — and eye-catching costumes
Women in the Braj region combine dance with impressive balancing skills
The Mayoora Nritham (peacock dance) is performed in honour of the warlike deity Subrahmanya
In the state of Odisha, young boys dressed as women perform the acrobatic Gotipua dance
A devotee depicts the half-male, half-female deity Ardhanarishvara in Tamil Nadu state
Evoking the character Indrajit from the Sanskrit epic the Ramayana
Performers dressed as an elephant and rider celebrate the 40-day Gavri festival in Udaipur
A worshipper dresses as Kali at the Gajan pre-harvest festival in Murshidabad, West Bengal
A man dressed as the monkey god Hanuman carries a traditional gada (mace) during Kulasai Dussehra in Tamil Nadu
A worshipper celebrates the Hindu goddess Kali during the Kulasai Dussehra festival in the southern state of Tamil Nadu
Another depiction of Hanuman, this time during Onam harvest festival celebrations In Thrissur, Kerala
A green face signifies a character’s nobility in the renowned classical dance-drama Kathakali
A performer in Delhi takes on the role of Kali for a Jagran, a night-long prayer, during the Navaratri festival
A performer at a festival celebrating Draupadi, the main female protagonist in the Sanskrit epic the Mahabharata
[All images © Charles Fréger]
Aam Aastha: Indian Devotions will be published next year by Thames & Hudson.
Mick Hartley 
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