Pepita Seth

• Name — Pepita Seth • Birth Name — Pepita Christian Ramsay-Fairfax • Born — 3 August 1942 • Birthplace — Suffolk, England • Citizenship — * United Kingdom (until 2026) • India (since 2026) • Occupation — * Writer • photographer • film editor • Awards — Padma Shri (2012)

Pepita Seth was born as Pepita Christian Ramsay-Fairfax on August 3, 1942, as the daughter of Victor Ramsay-Fairfax, a British Navy officer, and Christian Geraldine Mary Irby, in Suffolk, East of England. Pepita's maternal great-grandfather, Leonard Howard Lloyd Irby was a soldier who served in the army in the British India. She, choosing a career in films, studied film editing and got opportunities to work under film directors like Ted Kotcheff and Stanley Donen. She was married to British film editor Thom Noble in 1976 but got divorced later. She worked as assistant editor with Noble on many films. Pepita Seth was married to the Indian born British actor Roshan Seth in 1986, but was estranged from her husband in the late 80s. The couple formally divorced in 2004. Pepita Seth lives in Guruvayur in Kerala. She applied for Indian citizenship in 2024 and received it officially on 7 February 2026.

• Illustration — Guruvayoor Kesavan's Statue at Guruvayur. • Illustration — Pepita Seth taking photograph Seth's life took a turn when she chanced upon the diary of her great-grandfather and decided to trace his trails with the British Army and document the movements and landed in Kolkata, in 1970. The journey from Kolkata ended in Guruvayur where she became fascinated by the temple arts and rituals of Kerala. For the next nine years, she visited Kerala several times and, in 1979, she found a home and settled in Guruvayur. Though, at first, she was denied entry to the Guruvayur Temple, her persistence made the Guruvayur Devaswom Board to relent and she remains the only foreigner to be granted entry to the Temple. Seth has extensively covered the rituals and temples of Kerala through her photographs. Her photographs of the elephant, Guruvayur Keshavan have been published in many magazines and journals including the New York Times and the Guardian. It is generally considered that Pepita's photographs of the rituals and temple arts of Kerala have helped promote the image of Kerala as a tourist destination.