Saddhu and cremation, a photo from Bagmati, Central

Photographer's Note

A holyman in Pashupatinath - Lord of Shiva

Shiva is the god of the god. He is the creator and destroyer. He is the most important god in Nepal (so it is important to keep on his god side!).

It is often represented by the phallic lingam, symbolic of of his creative role. His vehicule is the bull "Nandy", which is outside of the Shiva temples. The symbol most often seen in Shiva's hand is the trident.

In Nepal, the temple of Pashupatinath (the lord of the beasts) is the ost important Hindu temple in the country.

In this picture you can see an "old shaddu" (about 60 years old) in front of an open-air cremation.

In Hinduism, the body is seen as an instrument to carry the soul. According to Hindu traditions, the reasons for preferring to destroy the corpse by fire over burying it into ground is to induce a feeling of detachment into the freshly disembodied spirit, which will be helpful to encourage it into passing to "the other world" (the ultimate destination of the dead).

This also explains the ground burial of holy men (whose spirit is already "detached" enough due to lifelong ascetic practices) and young children (the spirit has not lived long enough to grow attachments to this world). Hindu holy men are buried in lotus position and not in a horizontal position, as in other religions.[citation needed] Hindus have 16 rituals (Sanskars), like Name, Thread ceremony, beginning of student life, marriage, etc., and the last one is Cremation.

Lookin into TE I found that he was already there in 2003

downer, parbo, besnard, jjcordier, CLODO oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne

Critiques | Translate

eversmile (11636) 2008-12-13 17:12

Salut Michel!

Excellente, cette photo! La composition est bonne, et les couleurs percutantes, mais naturelles, sont belles. J'aime beaucoup le bokeh, avec les flammčches oranges qui rapellent les teintes du premier plan, et le premier plan bien net ressort d'autant mieux sur ce fond brouillé! J'aime bien aussi la gestuelle de la main qui dirige notre regard vers le bűcher funéraire. Bravo!

Le lien entre cette image et tes photos de singes? Hanuman, le roi-singe, qui est une incarnation de Shiva!

Amicalement
Marine

parbo (11092) 2008-12-13 17:18

Hello Michel,

Excellent focus to Shaddu while hiding the cremation in perfectly shallow focused background for not disturbing any one. Your timing is perfect too for capturing natural expression on his face and the splendid vivid colors of Shaddu's religious wear. Clarity and sharpness is noticeable, I like it a lot. Congratulations. Have a nice weekend.

Best Regards,

Ertugrul

downer (246) 2008-12-13 17:44

Hello,
I find this excellent as a photograph, both technically and artistically. The subject is very bold though, I myself would be hesitant to photograph a funeral scene, especially one where the dead person is well in the frame. Of course the body is so blurred that I wouldn't have guessed that it was there, that's good I guess. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to judge you and I am not offended or shocked. It is just something I have puzzled over lately, photographing death: I realized it was quite easy for me to take shots in a cemetery of another culture, but I still can't get myself to point my camera to one here in my home country. Does this imply different levels of respect? Probably not, just detachment from a scene that does not speak directly to our genes. Should I think twice about shooting next time I'm in a Gothic cemetery or the opposite, get over myself and go out to the local cemetery to with my camera at hand? I really don't know, that's why your photograph seems so interesting to me.
Cheers, Ioanna

besnard (59196) 2008-12-13 22:20

Bonjour Michel
Un superbe portrait net et haut en couleurs sur un flou artistique.
Mercipour le partage et bon dimanche.
Nicole

jjcordier (79299) 2008-12-13 22:28

Michel
Magnifique portrait! L'harmonie des couleurs du premier plan et de l'arričre plan est superbe, la lumičre exceptionnelle et la composition parfaite.Et, en plus, c'est un document exceptionnel qui aurait sa place aussi bien dans un livre de photos que dans un magazine d"actualité. Trčs impressionné!
Amicalement
JJ

Gessle (70) 2008-12-13 23:18

Hej Michel!
Your photo is what this site is about.
Amazing colours, amazing sharpness, flawless.
BUT the emotional and artistic meaning here is incredible!
Fantastic one.

Greetings, and hats off.....

Anna

CLODO (45116) 2008-12-14 0:43

Bonjour Michel
Photo mystique avec ce contraste orange/gris bleu et ce rai de lumičre qui tombe sur le bucher. L'organisation de la photo repose sur la mise au point sur tęte de l'homme, et sa main dirige le regard vers le fond flou.
Du grand art
CLODO

jonathan_hart (21276) 2008-12-14 1:36

trčs belle compo avec la profondeur de champ, le cadrage excellent et les couleurs harmonieuses, c'est une belle photo
amicalement
jc

marietom (34611) 2008-12-14 12:45

hello Michel,

Magnifique portrait, avec de trčs belles couleurs et une bien belle lumičre.
Bonne soirée
Marie

leo61 (0) 2008-12-14 12:49

Hi Michel!
A fantastic portrait of this man.I like a lot his pose and expression.Wonderful orange tones of his dressa dn great contrast with the blueish tones of the blurred background.A great shot and an interesting note.
Regards;leo

vado (203) 2009-03-09 3:20

Bonjour Michel

Magnifique photo, avec les couleurs qui se répondent. La lumičre est superbe, et le fond flou parfait pour concentrer l'intéręt sur le saddhu et suggérer plutôt que montrer la crémation.

Amicalement
Didier

scalerman (26900) 2009-03-11 16:56

Michel:

I think every visitor to Pnath knows this fellow. He's a fixture around those parts. Great DOF here. regards, c

Photo Information

Copyright: Michel Detay (mdetay) (4929)
Genre: Ludzie
Medium: Kolorowe
Date Taken: 2008-12-05
Categories: Życie codzienne
Camera: Nikon D2X, 70-200mm f/2.8D G-AFS ED-IF
Naświetlenie: f/2.8, 1/60 sekund
Wersja zdjęcia: Oryginalna wersja
Temat(y): Saddhus and holymen of South Asia, saddhu, well matched, Orange [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-12-13 17:02