The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
For Faces in the crowd today, I have two strangers.... two people I clicked at the Golden temple, Amritsar....
The first is obviously a visitor, a pilgrim. He looks so happy, at peace... His object is fulfilled. He has had darshan of the holy book., he has got the divine blessing - the prasad....
The second is more alert. He is obviously an employee of the Temple. He is at work, doing his duty, spear in hand. It doesn't matter that in these days of modern weaponry, his spear will be of no use in a gun battle. All that matters is that he is carrying the sacred tradition of protecting the sacred space, in the manner it has been done for years.
There is no fear of what may come. This is the one of the few places where no security check is conducted on visitors. We are free to carry anything inside. Even a camera. As I enter the sanctum, an employee notices my camera, and says, "beta, mandir ke andar photo mat nikalna" (child, please don't take a photo inside the sanctum). He doesn't even wait for my assent before turning away to the next pilgrim. Such is the nature of faith and belief.
These two photos, of two different people represents that same faith and belief, which shows in the happiness of one and the calmness of the other.
Love how they ooze with confidence and pride when they walk... Amritsar- hopefully this year, last year planned in nov and had to cancel :(
ReplyDeleteYes, Aarti! Its so nice to simply sit there and watch all the people there... hope you can go this year.. its a beautiful place
DeleteLovely, will wait to see more in this series!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mridula!
DeleteHi Anu... you have clicked interpreted the two pictures beautifully.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Desi traveller..
DeleteInterpretation is really good!!!! Nice observation...
ReplyDeleteMANUPONNAPPA.BLOGSPOT.IN
THanks a lot, Manu!
DeleteI loved your interpretations about these two pictures which we normally don't even bother to look at. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nisha! I actually spent a lot of time just sitting there and looking at people come and go.. i had been there before as a kid, and was trying to remember what it had been like then... and since photography was allowed, went on clicking too :D
DeleteWaoo we are so busy that we don't even notice such things in regular life.. Real good interpretation.
ReplyDelete