Train trip.... surreal...between Colombo and Galle. This was not my train, mine was more crowded and it was impossible to take any photos. Luck makes the train stop right in front of me, so I managed to slip into the carriage with all my bags...obviously, there was no way to get a seat.
During a tour near Luang Prabang, we stopped in a small village consisting mostly of huts. Basically, it was a stop for buying souvenirs .. after finishing the tour of the small "shops", all the children of the village ran to our bus to greet us and to try to speak a bit in English.
The photographer life can be tough, sometimes for the best shots you have to risk, putting also at stake your trusty companion. There are unique opportunities in which you MUST take risks to stay at the forefront of what is a constant competition and photography war.
This religious festival (Taoism) starts in the morning and continues until night. The procession moves from temple to temple and there are many cars and vans like this, where small bands, composed mostly by women and children, rhythmically playing music for the ritual.
Here it's shown an important gesture of this ceremony. The shirtless man you see is the priest of the temple, and every group or person who came, had to obtain his blessing and respect by a bow. This was an important step of the ceremony that has been repeated throughout the entire duration of the procession.
Another key part of the ceremony: several groups of men, after carrying on their shoulders these types of small shrines, once there in front of the temple, incited by the screams of the audience and accompanied by the constant music (and blessed by the customary bow of the "priest"), they performed one at a time in this exhausting ritual.
In the Indian culture and tradition, rituals are almost daily. Being mostly connected to the Hindu religion, there is always a different God to venerate or thank. These noisy and colorful rituals are always celebrated with great participation... drums and flowers are always protagonists.
The Holi is an Hindu festival celebrated annually to wish an happy and prosperous year. The celebrations usually last a day (some cities' like Pushkar up to a week). The night before the festival are burned some fires in the streets of the cities' where during the day the women bring necklaces made of cow dung and men instead a trunk to be placed in the middle.
Thrissur Pooram is a popular temple festival of the South Indian state of Kerala. It is held at the Vadakkunnathan Temple in Thrissur town every year on the "Pooram" day of the Malayalam Calendar month of "Medam".