Boy Wearing Tilaka (India)

Item Information

Title:
Boy Wearing Tilaka (India)
Description:
This lantern slide, “Boy Wearing Tilaka (India),” shows a shirtless boy standing with his hands at chest-level, palms touching. Standing behind him and out of focus is a man. The boy is wearing tilaka, a Hindu mark signifying devotion. His tilaka is the Srivaishnava Urdhva Pundra, a trident-shaped white mark with a red or orange line in the center. This specific tilaka signifies the wearer's devotion to Vishnu. The number of stripes on your body usually reflects your caste, and as the boy only has the forehead mark, he is likely a Sudra. The white paint comes from a clay called tirumani that can be purchased inexpensively at most bazaars.
Creator:
Hawkes, Joseph
Date:
[1910?–1930?]
Format:
Photographs
Location:
Springfield College Archives and Special Collections
Collection (local):
College Archives Digital Collections
Series:
Lantern Slide Collection
Subjects:
International Young Men's Christian Association
Lantern slides
Face painting
Hinduism
Extent:
3.25x3.25 in
Link to Item:
http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15370coll2/id/3160
Terms of Use:
Text and images are owned, held, or licensed by Springfield College and are available for personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that ownership is properly cited. A credit line is required and should read: Courtesy of Springfield College, Babson Library, Archives and Special Collections. Any commercial use without written permission from Springfield College is strictly prohibited. Other individuals or entities other than, and in addition to, Springfield College may also own copyrights and other propriety rights. The publishing, exhibiting, or broadcasting party assumes all responsibility for clearing reproduction rights and for any infringement of United States copyright law.
Contact host institution for more information.
Publisher:
Springfield College
Notes:
The Y.M.C.A.’s work in India began in 1889, when they sent a young American named David McConaughy to Madras to serve as the first foreign secretary in India. McConaughy encouraged the development of pre-existing Associations and held the first National Convention in 1891, resulting in the formation of the National Council of India, Burma, and Ceylon. The Association’s most notable contribution in India was its rural development work, first begun by K. T. Paul in 1913. Paul established microloan programs that freed the rural poor from the grips of moneylenders and won many converts among India's lower classes. Joseph Hawkes, the slide’s creator, spent much of his life producing and coloring lantern slides from his home in New York. This slide is part of Springfield College’s lantern slide series depicting Y.M.C.A. work in India, Ceylon, and Burma in the early twentieth century. The series was prepared by the Foreign Division of the American and Canadian Y.M.C.A, which established self-sustaining associations staffed by trained secretaries in foreign lands.
Text on border reads, "45; India; Boy with Caste Mask; Made by Joseph Hawkes."
Part of the Y.M.C.A. Work in India and Sri Lanka Lantern Slide Series
Identifier:
LS-08-10