Burnt, Pushed, Almost Stopped: How This Photographer Won A Nat Geo Award With One Shot
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In one frame of fire and faith, Ramya Sriram has ensured that an ancient ritual from Kerala now burns bright on the world stage.
Burnt, Pushed, Almost Stopped: How This Photographer Won A Nat Geo Award With One Shot
For years, global awards have looked to Indian cinema for spectacle and storytelling. Now, the spotlight has shifted, from the movie set to the ritual ground, thanks to a woman. An image of Kerala’s ancient Kandanar Kelan Theyyam ritual, shot by photographer Ramya Sriram, has won the Nat Geo India Worldwide Contest, placing South India’s living cultural traditions on the international stage.
The winning photograph is being featured in National Geographic’s 2026 calendar, a coveted platform that celebrates exceptional visual storytelling from across the world.
What Is Theyyam?
The Kandanar Kelan Theyyam, performed mainly in the Kannur and Kasaragod districts, is part of a centuries-old tradition that combines mythology, performance art and intense spiritual belief. For Ramya, this was not a one-off encounter. As per reports, over the past four years, she has travelled extensively across Kerala, documenting different forms of Theyyam as part of a personal project to preserve India’s intangible cultural heritage.
Her award-winning image captures the raw, electrifying intensity of the Kandanar Kelan Theyyam, where the performer is believed to embody a deity. Flames leap, the crowd surges and the boundary between devotion and danger blurs. It is this charged atmosphere that sets the photograph apart, earning praise for both its technical brilliance and emotional force.
For Ramya, the honour is deeply personal. Reacting to the win, she described being recognised by National Geographic as the “Holy Grail” for photographers (an achievement she likened to winning an Oscar). “No words can explain this moment of happiness. It validates my years of work and gives global recognition,” she said.
Eight Hours Of Waiting, Seconds Of Chaos
In an interview, she described how the photograph was taken inside a small temple in northern Kerala in the early hours of the morning. Ramya had waited nearly eight hours through the night for the ritual to begin, a common reality for photographers documenting Theyyam, where timings are fluid and devotion dictates the pace.
When the ritual finally commenced, the calm dissolved instantly. Devotees and photographers crowded the space as fire soared higher. “Everyone was pushing and pulling. There was chaos and the fire was too high,” Ramya recalled. Moments later, she was pushed dangerously close to the flames, suffering burns on her hand, camera and clothes. She managed to take just five shots before being forced to stop. Out of those five frames, three were out of focus, two were usable, and the one on your screen would go on to win an international award.
February 10, 2026, 21:12 IST
