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Gallery

Life on the Hill

The hills, the church, the daily work and the people of Kurisumala.

Showing 155 photographs

Terraced fields beneath a monsoon sky

Evening light over the hills

Trees silhouetted at dusk

The pond and terraces on the hillside

Sunlight on the water

Wind-bent trees on the ridge

A grassy knoll and its grove

Still water and green terraces

Acacias against the sky

The pond, with the ashram beyond

A quiet road beside flowering trumpet vines

Cows grazing on the hill

A tree leaning over the pool

The road through the hills

Mist over the valley

Water lilies and reflected trees

A small waterfall

Evening at the pond

A cross on a stone arch

A wayside sign that reads “Silence”

The sign to the Monastery Church

A brother looking out over the valley

A brother by the lake

A brother sitting on a rock at sunset

Walking among the tea bushes

Looking out across the hills

Tea terraces on the slope

A wayside cross in the forest

The stone circle around the forest cross

Sunset over the ridges

Mist settling in the valleys

Ashram buildings among flowering gardens

A covered passage between the stone buildings

Stone cells with grass-covered roofs

Stone buildings along the garden path

The door sign: Our Lady of Kurisumala Abbey

The ashram across the lawn

Bougainvillea in bloom beside the buildings

Bougainvillea along the stone wall

A brass lamp in a brick niche

A small altar niche

A room hung with icons

A cell with shelves of books

Christ seated in meditation, carved in stone

The tomb chapel of Fr. Francis Acharya

The tomb chapel from the garden

Inside the tomb chapel

A lamp, lilies and a portrait in the tomb chapel

The monastery cemetery

The church at night

The church interior

Lamps around the grotto shrine

The grotto shrine by lamplight

Icons and books in an alcove

The nilavilakku before the altar, ringed with flowers

Flowers in a brass bowl

A brass lamp with lit wicks

A cross-shaped lamp

An engraved processional cross

An engraved silver disc

The cross glowing in the dark

The cross and Om, carved in wood

A stone shrine arch with lamps

Bharatiya Pooja in the church

Bharatiya Pooja: the offering

Syro-Malankara Qurbana on a feast day

Incense and lamps at the Qurbana

Vested for the Qurbana

Prostrate in the church

Brothers gathered for prayer

Prayer before the altar

A brother at the shrine

A censer by the window

Sounding the gong

Incense drifting through the church

Incense during the liturgy

Two brothers praying by candlelight

Hands joined in prayer

Prayer with open hands

A brother bowed in prayer

Entering the church for prayer

Kneeling in the church

The sanctuary glimpsed through a curtain

Cows grazing under a tree

The herd at the feeding trough

Fresh fodder for the herd

A brother tending the cows

Calves in the dairy yard

Milking at dawn

A smile among the cows

The milk-processing room

Crates of Kurisumala milk

The dairy farm in the hills

Kneading dough in the bakery

Shaping the loaves

Loaves in the oven

Fresh bread from the oven

Bread tins ready for the oven

Loaves cooling

Lighting the kitchen fire

Cooking for the community

Pouring tea

The vegetable store

Tomatoes and potatoes

The ashram cats at their bowl

The vegetable garden

Tending the vegetable beds

A grove of papaya trees

Among the cardamom plants

A haircut in the corridor

At the sewing machine

Flowers and a portrait at the refectory window

Serving a meal in the refectory

Sharing the meal on the floor

A quiet moment in the refectory

The refectory corridor in afternoon light

The meal laid out

Spiritual reading by the window

Reading in a white habit

A brother at his desk

Writing by the window

The ashram library

Shelves in the library

Among the library shelves

Absorbed in the work

Water lilies in the pond

Pink water lilies

A white water lily

Bougainvillea in bloom

A climber beside a stone basin and raked gravel

A rusted wheel and clay pot among the roses

Roses in the ashram garden

A red rose by the stone buildings

A rose with morning dew

A pink rose

Tree dahlias against the sky

A yellow dahlia

Dahlias gathered in a bowl

A sunflower

Yellow cosmos

An anthurium

Orange trumpet vine

Rain lilies

Gathering bougainvillea blossoms

Flowers before the stone gate

The community with the Abbot General, Dom Bernardus Peters (2023)

The community with Dom Steele Hartmann of Tarrawarra Abbey, Australia, our mother house

The community with the former Abbot General, Bernardo Olivera OCSO

The community with the former Abbot General, Eamon Fitzgerald

Some of the photographs are stills from video and appear at a lower resolution when enlarged.