Hyderabad, June 21 -- It begins in the early hours, in some courtyard corner or under a bare bulb in a side lane. A young man sits still while another works on him with a brush dipped in yellow paint. The stripes go on slowly - careful and deliberate - black over yellow, jaw to ankle. By the time the tail is tied and the mask settles into place, the man is gone. In his place is a tiger.

This is Peddapuli Panduga, the tiger festival, and across the towns and villages of Telangana, it returns every year alongside the solemn observance of Muharram.

A festival within a festival

Muharram, known locally as Peerla Panduga, marks the martyrdom of Imam Hussain at Karbala. It is a time of mourning, of procession, of dappu drums and deep prayer. ...