Indian summer festivals: a vivid photo review

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Indian festivals and holidays from year to year brighten up the harsh everyday life of the inhabitants of the huge country of India - poor, noisy, dirty and unbearably hot, but at the same time incredibly charming. The other day, all of India was walking at festivals dedicated to the four-armed elephant god Ganesha, and celebrating Krishna's birthday. How many cups can you make an elephant, why do Tamils get hooked, and how to build pyramids from friends - in our photo review of Indian festivals.

Paper Ganesha

Ganesha - highly revered deity of the Indian pantheon: this is the god of wisdom and prosperity. From wisdom he has the head of an elephant, and from well-being - a round, well-fed belly. Well, the second pair of hands will not be superfluous in the household. If you add to this appearance the riding shrew, on which Ganesha rides, then the image will become even stranger. In the photo below is Ganesha, molded from 30,000 paper cups by artist Surya Prakash. During the holiday, the sculpture of the deity is betrayed to the river, and the paper god will not harm the environment.

Indian Ganta Karna Festival

There is something in common between ours and Indian holidays: they also burn a straw doll. True, not in winter, but in summer. And not on Shrovetide, but on the Ganta Karna festival. And the figure does not represent the Shrovetide woman, but the demon Ganta Karna. And so - the same thing.

They sat on my head

Climbing on top of each other's head is dangerous, but once a year, on the Krishna Janmashtami holiday, it is still possible. During the festival, young people build a pyramid of themselves in order to get to a clay pot suspended at a height and turn it into broken dishes.

On the hook of the festival

Tamils, residents of the south of Hindustan and the island of Sri Lanka, often appear in the news: they have been fighting for their independence for a long time and unsuccessfully. While some Tamils with machine guns attack the temple of the tooth of Buddha, others, as in the photo, for the sake of Hinduism pierce themselves with hooks. Obviously, both of them are distinguished by stubbornness and an active life position.

Little Goddess at Indian Festival

Indian festivals not only honor the old gods, but also welcome the young. If, of course, the young goddess Kumari can be considered on the grounds that her earthly incarnation is an ordinary Nepalese girl. A child assigned to work as a goddess is respected not only in Nepal, but also in India. The main one, the royal Kumari, lives in Kathmandu. Girls perform divine functions for 5-10 years until they grow up. The main Indian festivals never do without Kumari.

Fans at Indian festivals

Indian fans are very different from ours: they are not interested in football, but in Hinduism, instead of alcohol they fall into a trance, and instead of chants they utter prophecies. In the photo, one of these fans is unsuccessfully trying to cope with the spirit of the violent goddess Kali that has settled in her for a while, and in the meantime she is asked questions. And all this happens at the Swarnalatha Rangam ceremony in Secunderabad.

Another adherent of the formidable goddess Kali, Mr. Ramadass, also looks very unusual thanks to two limes that are attached to his mustache. It is said that when straightened, his mustache reaches two meters in length, so that he is a real decoration of the ceremony.

Indian snake festival

In India, cobras will never disappear: they are revered as sacred animals and given milk. This is done with special reverence on the day of Nag Panchami - the festival of snakes, which is part of the traditional cycle of summer holidays.

The bustle around the banyan tree

Indian married women gather for the Vas Savitri festival in mid-June, on a full moon day, and weave cotton threads around a large banyan tree, praying for the most important thing to them: the health and longevity of their husbands. Like prophetic Parks, they make sure that the strings do not break in any way - and then everything will be fine.

On this wish we will end our overview of Indian festivals and festive curiosities associated with the birthday of Krishna and the celebration of Ganesha.