Catchment
Traditional water catchment / reservoir (நடு முதலைக் குலம்) on outskirts of Madurai.
Above picture zoomed in. Folks going to Kali temple. They're carrying offerings of sprouted grains on their heads.
Click to zoom.
I caught this procession of folks in the distance, on the way back from a visiting a remote rural temple. They are going to the local Kali temple. Usually this is done on every powarnami (full moon day). But this one is special, as it comes right after Navaratri celebrations. They’re carrying mulai-pari (முளை பாரி; pots with sprouted grains; click on the photo to zoom in) on their heads, which after offering to Kali, they’ll let it float off in the water. It’s a way of thanking and seeking blessing for the upcoming cycle of harvest (which happens in Pongal time).
The above is a traditional water catchment, eco-friendly (as opposed to today’s trend of uprooting the local ecosystem by building dams). Stretches for a few kilometers. You can gauge how old it is from the name itself – “nadu muthalai kulam” (”நடு முதலைக் குலம்” – “lake where crocodiles are found in the middle”). There are no crocodiles today, nor do I think there were any even in the last 50 years. Considering that this season the monsoons have been meagre in Tamil Nadu, catchments like this are their (and our) life bread and butter.