Elusive, elemental, and extremely beautiful – this natural phenomenon is breathtaking and actually quite simple to explain. Commonly known as light beams, crepuscular rays are caused by an effect similar to Rayleigh scattering, and are rare to see in a natural environment save near the twilight peripheries – hence the name. Steam, smoke, and dust during the rest of the day makes these beams visible to us from all angles, but short of these mediums, angle and hour are the most significant factors for seeing them.

In Parambikulam, where these photographs were taken under a week ago, the early morning light drifts down through the evergreen forest’s canopy, making frequent and abrupt stops as it collides against the stratified leaves. The forest’s ceiling is so dense that, despite the particle-laden air’s perfect ability to conduct visible light in the form of crepuscular rays, only a single beam reaches the forest floor. Within a week or two, I have no doubt that a sapling will be working its way, inch by inch, to the upper layers of the forest.