Photograph is worth thousand words

Photograph is worth thousand words

© K. L. Kamat

Villagers eating with hands while squatting in the courtyard
Picture taken in the town of Honavar during the Chariot festival, 1976

The following notes are courtesy of Dinesh Nettar.

1. These people are not brahmins, because their banana leaves are vertical, not horizontal. They are also not sitting on their bottoms, but squatting on their feet, they don't have a glass of water near their left hands. Just one large pot in between, from which they will pour water into their mouths (without touching). 

2. The older man on the left is probably an Achari (carpenter), because he is wearing janivaara The sacred thread). There are four kinds of acharis, who work on wood, iron, bronze, and gold. I just guessed he is a carpenter, because they are more common. 

3. They are being fed on the edge of the courtyard, (angaLa), and under a roof of plaited coconut leaf. This is clear from the shadow falling on them, and the small circles of light seeping through. 

4. This is a big meal, like marriage dinner, given the number of items on the leaf.

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