In my last post, I mentioned a face in the background. It was a red faced mask, hanging on a building. Here is another similar face.
These red faces appear on buildings all over Bangalore. In Tamil they are known as Drishti Bommai. I have also heard them described by Kannada speakers as Muneshwara. They are hung on buildings during construction (as you can see in the next photo of an unfinished building in Nallurahalli). They are intended to protect the builders and the future occupants, by warding off the Evil Eye.
The next photo shows the roof of our driver’s house, built in 2012.
The final two photos show Drishti Bommai which haven’t been activated yet – I spotted them for sale at a roadside stall on 1 August.
Similar faces are painted on trucks – as in my post from 9 September 2012.
Distant Drumlin 
Love them!
Nice new banner, btw 🙂 Red and oranges really do it for me, lol.
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Thanks!
There are five or six banner photos now. I got bored with my snowy Irish fields, and added green Irish fields and a few Indian photos. I think they appear randomly. Try clicking on another post and see if the banner changes.
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I should change mine… I’ve got a field of poppies that might work…
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Lovely pics!
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Thank you! I am enjoying the photos of Delhi on your blog.
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cool! They are kind of creepy looking but I guess you don’t want a happy face to ward off evil spirits.
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Thanks. Yes I think they need to be scary!
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Could do with a few of those here – plenty of evil eyes walking around 😉
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From what I’ve seen on your blog, maybe you need a leopardskin version.
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Ooooh, wouldn’t that be something! 🙂
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We have one but a bit different – kept in our living room balcony warding (hopefully!) off all sorts of nasty stuff!! 🙂
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So the Mumbai ones are different? Hope it keeps working for you!
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Apparently you will find a lot other things used to protect the house in North India such as Horse shoe, a flat tyre and even a voodoo like doll 🙂
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Interesting. It’s good to hear that a flat tyre is useful to somebody.
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Indeed they ward of the Evil Eyes and as A.Mittal said there are lot more things used all over India to ward of Evil Eyes.. 🙂
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Gargoyles! India style.
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