The swinging oracles

Photographer K.R. Sunil captures fiery images of the famed temple festival of Kodungallur, in Kerala

KR. Sunil has been dabbling in arts as well as photography ever since he was a student of fine arts. From the time he procured a camera, he had no doubt on what he wanted to capture: the famed temple festival of Kodungallur, his hometown. Ever since he was a boy, the annual festival has been filling the canvas of his mind with fiery images.

He has travelled far and wide in his photographic journey that saw him win the India Habitat Centre’s Photopsphere grant this year, but he always comes back to Kodungallur to shoot his favourite theme.

“People come in droves from different parts of Kerala to worship in a ceremony called Kavu Theendal. As a boy, I used to watch them as they passed by my house to take a ritual bath in the sea,” he says.

Hundreds, even thousands, of oracles — Komaram or Velichapadu in local parlance — descend on the town, dressed up in red, adorned with anklets on their legs and the ritualistic sword in hand. As the April sun reaches its zenith, sweat mingles with blood and turmeric as the oracles swing and swing without a care in the world.

“There are many myths and stories but what interests me are the humans who converge after crossing mountains and forests. They unleash their suppressed emotions, dance, go into a trance and finally go back happy. I don’t know about bhakti, but it is certainly a psychological release for them,” says Sunil. As film gave way to digital, the oracles also changed in nature. Cotton was replaced by polyester and many of them now flaunt visiting cards.

As a photographer, he says, he is on a quest for life’s rare moment rather than a beautiful frame. “Sometimes, when you capture the moment, it turns beautiful.”