Chhattisgarh's Tattooed Ramnami Community As Photographed By Yannick Cormier

The art of tribal tattooing in India has existed for hundreds of years, with thousands of people inking their skin for a variety of reasons, ranging from beautification and badges of honour, to a representation of womanhood, and even as protection in the afterlife. What really caught our eye were the caste-defying tattoos of the Ramnami Samaj in Chhattisgarh, a low caste movement that formed to challenge the social and religious restrictions being imposed upon them by the brahminical hegemony that prevailed. Denied access to temples, religious scriptures and texts, the Ramnamis, who call themselves Ramupasaks, arose during the Hindu reformist movement of the 19th century.

While the exact origin cannot be accurately traced—the community is largely comprised of illiterate people who pass down their knowledge orally—many attribute the practice of tattooing back to Parasurama, the man who is also believed to be the founder of the movement. Some say the Ramnamis tattooed every inch of their body, right from their arms and legs to their eyelids and tongue, with Lord Ram’s name to prevent physical attacks from angry Brahmins who were incredibly bothered by the lower cast’s self-initiation into their religion.

Renowned French photographer Yannick Cormier first learnt about the fascinating traditions of the Ramnamis when he came across the book Rapt in the Name: The Ramnamis, Ramnam, and Untouchable Religion in Central India by Ramdas Lamba, which, as told to us by Cormier, had a unique documentation about Ramnamis. “I told myself that I had to go and meet these people.” Speaking to Homegrown, he tells us that it was in 2012, after he finished his series Masquerade For The Gods, that he began looking for inspiration for his next photography project and began reading up about various issues regarding the erstwhile untouchables of India. Cormier has been fascinated with calligraphy and tattooing ever since adolescence, when he watched the film Kwaidan by Masaki Kobayashi. It was only in 2013 at Raipur, Chhattisgarh, that he got an introduction to the members of the Ramnami community with the help of fellow photographer Akhilesh Bharos and got to see the body-art of the people he had read so much about.

Overcoming the initial language barrier with the help of an English-speaking local, Cormier was ready to photograph the tattooed community with a clearly defined approach in mind. “I knew exactly what I wanted. I didn’t want to make a classic documentary on their culture, but rather capture the graphic aesthetics of their tattoos,” says Cormier who greatly admired and respected their striking appearance. “Using the odhni as a background was for me the best way to visually translate the dignity and strength of their faith, to make it visible and understandable for others.”

We’ve posted below a selection of photographs from Cormier’s series The Sacred Name Of Ram, with permission from the photographer. You can view the entire series on his website and read more about the Ramnami Samaj and the caste-marking tattoos of India, and what they signified for different tribes in a previously curated feature.