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...
Happy Vijayadasami / Dusshera / Dasara everyone!!!
It has been an eventful Navaratri, starting with the creative satisfaction of setting up our own Kolu after years, to visiting friends and relatives, and of course, temples. The festival winds up today, and as we celebrate the destruction of evil, let me give you a glimpse of the different celebrations I have been able to attend - all within a short distance of my home!
Let me begin with the Mariamman temple in our colony. Mariamman is a form of the goddess worshipped all over Tamil Nadu. Every small village will have a shrine dedicated to her. She is a form of Parvati, of Durga, and Kali. She is mother nature, who bestows us with everything we need, but she also needs to be worshipped so that she doesnt show us her darker side, of drought, famine, or flood. Here she is, all decorated for the evening puja...
The temple also has an elaborate Kolu, and here it is....
And here is a closer look at some of the dolls in the kolu...
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| Ganesha as Ardhanareeshwara! |
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| Ganesha again, seated on the crescent moon, with Lakshmi and Saraswati on either side |
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| Lakshmi-Hayagriva, and Hayagriva |
That was the typical South Indian Navaratri celebration.
Heading over to Gandhi Maidan, the North Indian celebration of Ramleela is in full swing every evening. Here is Ravan, all set to be burnt in the grand finale, tonight!
A little further along the same road is a simple, yet beautiful Durga, a typically Maharashtrian celebration. We, are in the western part of the country after all!
Finally, a short walk away is the Bengali Durga Puja, something we look forward to, every year. This year, they have replicated the Mumbai Municipal Corporation building...
and inside, here she is....
Women apply Sindur to Her, as well as to each other, a celebration called Sindur Khela.
And this is why I love festivals... for the sheer variety we see around us, and yet, they are all, intrinsically, the same. All celebrate the triumph of good over evil.
In the present day, evil isn't as apparent, as obvious, as our myths tell us, or as these rituals depict them. There is no Mahishasura, showing himself as a demon, or a Ravana, with his ten heads. Evil is no longer in appearance, but in thought, and exists within all of us. This Dusshera, as we burn effigies of Ravana, sing songs of the triumph of the goddess, let us pray to the Lord to destroy our negative thoughts and make us more tolerant, for it is in tolerance that lies lasting peace.
Wise words about negativity and tolerance, Anu! I only hope that others come to realize the same thing.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you got so much enjoyment from Navaratri this year, and shared all the wonderful displays, both personal and public, with us so that we could enjoy them too.