Rogues light up Hanuman Chalisa celebration
Published: WORSHIP
SOUTH AFRICA: In the southwest suburbs of Pretoria, Laudium possesses a large Indian population with numerous temples and mosques representing the area’s considerable Hindu and Muslim communities. In the heart of the district is the Laudium Hindu Temple, which recently hosted a celebration of the Hanuman Chalisa for its worshippers and JYM Sound Lighting & Staging was engaged to design the lighting rig, drawing on its strong history of serving religious functions across South Africa and opting for a Chauvet Professional setup.
The Hanuman Chalisa is a devotional hymn comprising 40 verses dedicated to the Hindu god, Hanuman, and to reflect its ‘power and vibrancy’ as well as the ‘energy and focus’ it provides, the temple sought a lighting solution that would provide vivid colours and effects. JYM’s lighting designer, Shaniel Laloo, designed the setup that involved pairing six Rogue R2 Wash moving LED fixtures with six Rogue R2 Spots. The wash units were used to cover the temple’s stage in a wide range of colours, fully exploiting the five-zone RGBW LED capabilities and 12- to 49-degrees zoom range of the fixture.
‘The Hanuman Chalisa is very important to the people at the temple,’ explains Mr Laloo. ‘We wanted lighting that would support the ceremony and look good on video.’
The colourful lighting reportedly cast a great effect on the multitude of curtains draped in various arrangements to form the backdrop to the stage. The gobo morphing technology and 16.5-degrees beam angle of the Rogue R2 Spot, meanwhile, were said to result in ‘crisp and complex’ patterns that augmented the total effect.
‘We had a great canvas to work on with the scenic curtains,’ notes Mr Laloo. ‘The gobo patterns and the changing colours of the light accented the waves in the curtains, which created a nice immersive look that contributed to the experience.’
Mr Laloo’s design called for the use of six truss totems, each of which was 2m high. The Rogue R2 Spots were positioned on four of the trusses, while the washes were fitted to the other two. As those lighting fixtures attached to trusses lit the stage area, the leftover units supplied ambient lighting around the room.
‘The Rogues did everything we asked of them,’ adds Mr Laloo, who also appreciated the quiet operation and low heat generation of the units. ‘We wanted the lighting to contribute to the Hanuman Chalisa, not distract people with noise. Meanwhile, the looks we created were definitely in keeping with the spirit of the occasion.’