Modern meets ancient: Accessories await the Gods and Demons. A pair of sunglasses strike the odd note, but they shall not be going up on stage today. (NDTV Photo)
Headless, eyeless: A tinny, encrusted crown, dusted out from its corner in a musty cupboard and polished for another performance. The sunglasses are polished every day. Who will they adorn? (NDTV Photo)
Musical chairs: Seating arrangements being readied for a colossal extravaganza. Come night and the red chairs shall seat the gentry. The rest are up for grabs – first come, first served. (NDTV Photo)
Awaiting humanity: The chairs stretch for miles. Very soon each will be filled, some with two, even three occupants staring wonderstruck as the epic unfolds. (NDTV Photo)
Easy does it: Putting up this stage is no child’s play. Behind that rough frame, satin and velvet are draped on wood to erect a massive structure. (NDTV Photo)
The stage is set: The backroom boys have done their job. Now for the actors to breathe life into the ageless tale of love, betrayal, war and peace. (NDTV Photo)
The lull: The master artisan brings out his tools of the trade. He stills himself before the moment when he shall paint expression on to the faces of hundreds of characters. (NDTV Photo)
Rainbow: Up close the colours he is painting on her face look stark, garish even. From a great distance, the red will define the lip as she mouths her dialogue. (NDTV Photo)
In repose: Who is he tonight? What are his thoughts? Is he Ram, thinking about his final moment of glory? Or his he Lakshman, torn already between love and duty? (NDTV Photo)
Gone back in time: Only the hint of a striped collar bears testimony now to the fact that this face belongs in 2009. The rest harks back to centuries ago. (NDTV Photo)
