Spirituality: the importance of Shiva - India, Tamil Nadu

At Kapeeleshwara temple in Chennai, the families arrive one by one in front of the brahman who blesses them. In India, every family comes to the temple as soon as they can. There is no collective ceremony, apart from the puja, a ritual which takes place every two days during which the priests honour the divinities. For example for the night puja, the priests gather the statues of Shiva, the God destroyer of all bad things and of his wife Durga. They believe that these two divinities transform themselves into human beings at nightfall, and that they must sleep together. The following morning, the priests separate the two beings whom revert to their divine forms. Everyday, this nocturnal ceremony attracts pilgrims from all corners of the world. ©Photography: Virginie Lebrun