Hindu festival in Kerala
Photos: 1 (Top) Three-storey gate on festival route; 2—John and float of some legendary person; 3—Mythical lions that stand up and roar, then lie down; 4—Typical parade spectators; 5—Float of multi-armed goddess.
While we were in Kerala we heard there was a big Hindu festival being held in a nearby village. We were told that a particular temple will organize such a festival each year. We took a taxi through city streets until the crowds grew so dense the driver let us out. The village was more of a suburb, we think. We followed everyone else to a long cross street that had high poles along both sides with paper banner and designs stretched between them over the street below so that we almost seemed to be in an airy corridor. We walked down for blocks; there we big ornate gates or archwaysevery block or so.
We heard a parade coming: drums and wailing flutes that sound like bagpipes. The parade resembled a giant Thanksgiving Day parade with floats and bands. But the floats had giant creatures and gods that were unfamiliar to us, obviously giants or animals that came from myths or fairy stories. There was a group of large cloth lions that stood up, roared, and sat down again (all mechanically), and someone told us these lions came from a Hindu story. It was wonderful to see a large, elaborate parade motivated by relgion and festivities instead of shopping, like the Thanksgiving parades.
Many of the marching bands were athletic men in white singlets with all sorts of drums; they would sway, twirl, and do elaborate choreography while playing very loud and complex drum routines. There were dancers with huge flower arrangements on their heads, many kinds of flowers arranged in a huge cylinder about the size of a small car. Another float was a large, real boat, a 40 foot dory festooned with ribbons, with a row of men on either side carrying it. They run ahead with the boat dipping down, then come to a stop with the bow rising up, then back up and do it again. We guessed it simulated some famous boat in a storm.
We watched for about an hour, and the parade showed no signs of ending. Caye wasn’t feeling well, so we walked along beside the parade route to the exit street.
There were dense crowds in spots blocking the space between the parade and the buildings, and at first we thought we’d never get through. Yet we always managed to get through. It’s really quite remarkable. You walk up to his solid wall of people and there’ll be a little shift and you pass through scarcely brushing anyone. People inch out of your way quite naturally, without any reluctance, not even glancing at you. Same for everyone, not just us. Crowds are so much a part of everyone’s life they the Indians have learned to accommodate each other. People are friendly, not in an active “hi there!” sort of way, but just polite, unobtrusive with an everyone-minds-his-own-business way. As Caye has mentioned, we’ve never encountered a single incident of rudeness or threat. We enjoyed Mexico but several times got a feeling that we had better be careful, a street or a group of people were dangerous. We’ve never felt that during our travels in India.
I’ve mentioned this before: it’s striking what smooth, fluid, fast walkers Indians are, probably because they do so much of it. The walking looks deceptively normal yet people often pass us easily as we hustle along trying to go fast. The most remarkable are the small, wiry women who carry heavy bundles of wood on their heads and who shuffle past us at great speed, barefoot. I doubt I could even lift one of the bundles, much less walk at high speed with it.
While we were in Kerala we heard there was a big Hindu festival being held in a nearby village. We were told that a particular temple will organize such a festival each year. We took a taxi through city streets until the crowds grew so dense the driver let us out. The village was more of a suburb, we think. We followed everyone else to a long cross street that had high poles along both sides with paper banner and designs stretched between them over the street below so that we almost seemed to be in an airy corridor. We walked down for blocks; there we big ornate gates or archwaysevery block or so.
We heard a parade coming: drums and wailing flutes that sound like bagpipes. The parade resembled a giant Thanksgiving Day parade with floats and bands. But the floats had giant creatures and gods that were unfamiliar to us, obviously giants or animals that came from myths or fairy stories. There was a group of large cloth lions that stood up, roared, and sat down again (all mechanically), and someone told us these lions came from a Hindu story. It was wonderful to see a large, elaborate parade motivated by relgion and festivities instead of shopping, like the Thanksgiving parades.
Many of the marching bands were athletic men in white singlets with all sorts of drums; they would sway, twirl, and do elaborate choreography while playing very loud and complex drum routines. There were dancers with huge flower arrangements on their heads, many kinds of flowers arranged in a huge cylinder about the size of a small car. Another float was a large, real boat, a 40 foot dory festooned with ribbons, with a row of men on either side carrying it. They run ahead with the boat dipping down, then come to a stop with the bow rising up, then back up and do it again. We guessed it simulated some famous boat in a storm.
We watched for about an hour, and the parade showed no signs of ending. Caye wasn’t feeling well, so we walked along beside the parade route to the exit street.
There were dense crowds in spots blocking the space between the parade and the buildings, and at first we thought we’d never get through. Yet we always managed to get through. It’s really quite remarkable. You walk up to his solid wall of people and there’ll be a little shift and you pass through scarcely brushing anyone. People inch out of your way quite naturally, without any reluctance, not even glancing at you. Same for everyone, not just us. Crowds are so much a part of everyone’s life they the Indians have learned to accommodate each other. People are friendly, not in an active “hi there!” sort of way, but just polite, unobtrusive with an everyone-minds-his-own-business way. As Caye has mentioned, we’ve never encountered a single incident of rudeness or threat. We enjoyed Mexico but several times got a feeling that we had better be careful, a street or a group of people were dangerous. We’ve never felt that during our travels in India.
I’ve mentioned this before: it’s striking what smooth, fluid, fast walkers Indians are, probably because they do so much of it. The walking looks deceptively normal yet people often pass us easily as we hustle along trying to go fast. The most remarkable are the small, wiry women who carry heavy bundles of wood on their heads and who shuffle past us at great speed, barefoot. I doubt I could even lift one of the bundles, much less walk at high speed with it.
posted by John Francis & Caye Poe at 7:08 AM
1 Comments:
The Hindu Festival looks great. Wish i was there!!
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