Rehearsal of a kutiyattam scene enacted at Saranya, a school of Sanskrit theater in Painkulam, Kerala, India, led by tecaher and master artist Painkulam Narayanan Chakyar. The students enact the climactic death of the monkey-king Bali, ambushed and felled by an arrow from the bow of Rama, hero of the Sanskrit epic, Ramayana. (December 26, 2012)

Across the Godavari river from one of the most famous Rama temples in India--the Sree Seetha Ramachandra Swamy Temple at Bhadrachalam--a major religious festival takes place in spring 2012 that represents the marriage of two distinct ritual traditions. Thousands have come to check out Nambudiri Brahmins performing their archaic brand of Vedic sacrifice for the first time ever outside of their home state of Kerala. The real attraction for these passionate bhaktas or "devotees," however, is the chance to see and touch the icons associated with the local temple; above all, they flock to witness the ritual marriage of the divine couple Rama and Sita, performed by local Andhra Brahmins.