Goma Ritual: Phoenix rises from the ashes

We were invited by priests to visit Koyasan, the birthplace of the Shingon lineage of Buddhism in Japan. We stayed overnight at a temple. Highlights of the visit were walking at night along the Okunoin Cemetery to the mausoleum of Kukai, the founder of Shingon, and participating in a Goma Ritual.

The Goma Ritual of consecrated fire is unique to Esoteric Buddhism, which is part of the Shingon sect in Japan. The ceremony is performed with the purpose of destroying negative energies and detrimental thoughts and desires. In the ceremony, a priest burns wooden sticks in the scared fire. The fire symbolizes the wisdom of the Buddha and the wood sticks symbolize what is to be cleansed and released. The constant beating of the taiko drums and chanting together with the visuals of the ceremony can create a trance-like state and have a deep and profound effect on the participants.

I processed a realistic and a soft HDR photo from a RAW exposure, blended them, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.

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-- ƒ/0.95, 50 mm, 1/500 sec, ISO 3200, Sony A7 II, Canon 50mm f0.95 "Dream Lens", HDR, 1 RAW exposure, _DSC5272_hdr1rea2sof3i.jpg
-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2023 Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography

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Taken in: Japan / Wakayama / Kōya Chō / Kōyasan (show map)

Taken on: March 30, 2023

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Camera: Sony ILCE-7M2, f/0, 1/500 sec, 0mm, ISO 3200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Sony ILCE-7M2
Lens:	Sony 0mm F0.0
Aperture:	f/0
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/500)
Focal Length:	0mm
ISO:	3200
Exposure Bias:	-1 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Pixelmator Pro 3.3.2
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