Muharram

Content advisory : This album contains images depicting blood on people as part of a religious ceremony.

Muharram is one of the 4 sacred months in the Islamic calendar. The 10th day of the month, known as Ashura, is mourned by Shia Muslims. It is because Ashura commemorates the death of Hussain ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, who was beheaded on October 10, 680 in the Battle of Karbala which took place in Karbala in present-day Iraq.

Shia Muslims wear black clothes to mark the sad occasion and perform matam (chest-beating using one's hands and self-flagellation using implements like knives and blades).

This blog contains 20 photos from Muharram mourning in Chennai.

Location : Chennai District, Tamil Nadu.

Photos shot in October 2017.

All photos © S Srikant.

Men in black attire beat their chests in mourning of Hussain ibn Ali during Muharram procession in Royapettah, Chennai. The man in the centre is singing verses in praise and memory of Hussain.

Blood oozes from the backs of Shia mourners as they strike themselves with blades lamenting the martyrdom of Hussain, in Royapettah, Chennai.

Shia Muslims performing self-flagellation during Muharram in Chennai. The man in the top left is using 2 blades on himself while a group of men (top, centre) coaxes a young man not to prolong self-flagellation.

Blood-stained shirt and pant of a man as he stands on blood spilled on road in Royapettah, Chennai.

Men beat their blood-covered chests in memory of Hussain ibn Ali in Royapettah, Chennai.

Children watch a bleeding man participating in the Muharram procession in Chennai.

A man flagellates himself using 3 razors.

Blood-soaked body of a Shia mourner in Chennai.

Men lamenting the slaying of Hussain in Royapettah, Chennai.

A Shia woman breaks down during the Muharram procession in Royapettah, Chennai.

A woman puts money in a donation box during Muharram procession in Royapettah, Chennai.

2 women seeking blessings during Muharram procession in Chennai.

A child is raised to a horse to be blessed.

A man thumps his head while singing as others beat their chests in Chennai.

A bleeding youngster (right) in white stands out among a crowd of chest-beating men in black.

Men indulge in chest-beating, lamenting the murder of Hussain, inside Abbasi Ashurkhana Thousand Lights Mosque, Chennai.

Shia Muslim men flagellating themselves with blades in Thousand Lights Mosque, Chennai. Note the blood on the floor.

Streams of blood dripping down the face of a young Shia man, as a result of cuts on his head, in Abbasi Ashurkhana Thousand Lights Mosque, Chennai.

The blood of mourners on the floor of Abbasi Ashurkhana Thousand Lights Mosque, Chennai.

Shias extending their arms in the act of chest-beating during Muharram in Abbasi Ashurkhana Thousand Lights Mosque, Chennai.