Friday, January 13, 2012

Shiva festival


An Applied Mechanics post-graduate student who is temporarily housed in the guest complex and taking his meals at the canteen I go to invited me to walk with him to a nearby temple for the Hindu god Shiva.  There is an annual 5-day long festival there.  Shiva resides in the temple (a gold figure I believe) and is brought out once a year at the festival to meet the people.  After dinner, about 9PM, we were walking to the temple next to the highway and heard a procession coming from another temple, so we waited for it to pass.  They take up one lane of a 4-lane highway.  There are about 100 people, 4 fire batons twirling in the front, 2 bands, fire crackers, an occasional fireworks fountain, a decorated jeep with flood lights, and a few other items of special significance: a crate carried on top of a man's head, torches with fire, and a 1 meter diameter gold and cloth emblem.  Drums and horns consantly play -- hear audio below.  They enter the temple gounds, fireworks go off to welcome them, and they slowly proceed up into the temple building.  At the open ground outside the temple there are hundreds of people, vendors, 2 small stages, and a bunch of plastic chairs. 
Occasionally there is a short skit on one stage telling part of the story of Shiva.  And there is an occasional aerial or fountain firework set off.  We wander around and eat some delicious warm wheat pudding.  The procession comes out of the temple, still playing, and goes to the other stage where the elders perform a ceremony while the bands play to the ceremony.  My video of the crowd watching the ceremony was poor so for those of you with slow internet (I feel your pain), the photo below will play audio only.

The main event is yet to happen and is scheduled to last until 2AM, so I walk back to my room.  My host, being gracious, joins me.  At 545AM I wake up to hear the procession heading back to their temple along the highway, horns and drums still playing.  The festival was fun.  The combination of ancient religious customs and modern lighting (and likely behind the scenes cell phone communication) seems to symbolize modern India. 
Shiva's carriage.  The wood base has intricate carving.

Shiva temple




















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