2013’10’13
After ten days of nonstop festivities, today was the day for letting go of the
Goddess Durga and send her back to the ocean. A big fanfare with dance and
music took her to the ocean and let her go in it. All sorts of humanity was at
the beach and all sorts of Goddess idols too. It is a way to remind ourselves that
life is ever changing and it is time to look forward to other things like Diwali for
instance :)
For me too, this is the day to stop getting spoiled and head home. The ten days
of nonstop partying, talking and eating is ending and I am getting ready to across
the ocean too. I had a wonderful trip but I am also looking forward to going back
home and seeing the family. This has been a very long trip.
And, today is Dashhara too. According to the Hindu epic RAMAYANA, today , the
good king Rama killed the evil king Ravana and got his wife Sita back ( Ravana had
kidnapped her). Ravana was strong, wise and had ten heads, but he was the evil
king. So, today is the day to celebrate the victory of the good over the evil.
Effigies of Ravana are made all over India and they are burned with huge fanfare
of fireworks and celebrations. As a kid, we looked forward to this all year around (
this was before TV and Video games).
My niece sent an email to explain the meaning of the festival. Ten headed Ravana
symbolizes ten evils that we all have and we need to burn them out of us. The
evils include: anger, greed, jealousy, lust, ego, selfishness ..etc. I am sure all
ancient civilizations have symbolisms like this to spread the humane values.
Anyways, it is a good day to take leave from the “ Matrbhumi” ( motherland)
and start the journey back. Wish me good luck in that all my connections do
work well. This is the last blog for this trip. I hope you enjoyed the journey of
two totally different and yet very similar cultures. Please feel free to send your
comments and suggestions. Namaste
After ten days of nonstop festivities, today was the day for letting go of the
Goddess Durga and send her back to the ocean. A big fanfare with dance and
music took her to the ocean and let her go in it. All sorts of humanity was at
the beach and all sorts of Goddess idols too. It is a way to remind ourselves that
life is ever changing and it is time to look forward to other things like Diwali for
instance :)
For me too, this is the day to stop getting spoiled and head home. The ten days
of nonstop partying, talking and eating is ending and I am getting ready to across
the ocean too. I had a wonderful trip but I am also looking forward to going back
home and seeing the family. This has been a very long trip.
And, today is Dashhara too. According to the Hindu epic RAMAYANA, today , the
good king Rama killed the evil king Ravana and got his wife Sita back ( Ravana had
kidnapped her). Ravana was strong, wise and had ten heads, but he was the evil
king. So, today is the day to celebrate the victory of the good over the evil.
Effigies of Ravana are made all over India and they are burned with huge fanfare
of fireworks and celebrations. As a kid, we looked forward to this all year around (
this was before TV and Video games).
My niece sent an email to explain the meaning of the festival. Ten headed Ravana
symbolizes ten evils that we all have and we need to burn them out of us. The
evils include: anger, greed, jealousy, lust, ego, selfishness ..etc. I am sure all
ancient civilizations have symbolisms like this to spread the humane values.
Anyways, it is a good day to take leave from the “ Matrbhumi” ( motherland)
and start the journey back. Wish me good luck in that all my connections do
work well. This is the last blog for this trip. I hope you enjoyed the journey of
two totally different and yet very similar cultures. Please feel free to send your
comments and suggestions. Namaste
No comments:
Post a Comment