Kerala festival comes to Clapton

The Pongala festival is the largest all-women festival in the world

Jules Lily’s work celebrates the Pongala festival in south India, the largest all-women festival in the world.

The photographs were taken in Kerala, a state which boasts the highest female literacy rates in India. Lily’s compelling photographs show women who successfully challenge the stereotypes.

The photographs themselves are bursts of vivid colour, conveying a vivid sense of worship and celebration.

The name of the Hindu festival Pongala, literally means ‘to boil over’, because of the ritual involved: making a religious offering of a porridge made using rice, molasses, coconut, nuts and raisins.

This ritual is only undertaken by the Hindu women who sit outside the temple passing between them the fire, lit by the chief priest from the temple to warm their concoctions.

Thousands of women join together and assemble for the festival every year, spilling over the streets around the temple and sharing the fire.

Jules Lily photographs of the celebration are being showcased at Pages of Hackney, Clapton from 20 October until 17 November.

On Thursday 22 October, Lily is giving a talk about the  exhibition and her experiences, as well as Kerala’s ‘unique communist feminist success story’. Tickets for this event are £3 including wine.

The photo show runs from 20 October until 17 November.

More information here.