Tales from the Island of Serendip 4 4

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Even Harry Potter, who is very popular in India. This is Hogwarts.

 

 

 

 

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In Calcutta alone more than two thousand pandals are set up.

 

 

 

 

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The city is adorned with lights.

 

 

 

 

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I vividly recall the carnival atmosphere in South Calcutta as thousands of people go 'pandal-hopping' with their friends and family.

 

 

 

 

 

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Traffic comes to a standstill, people abandon their vehicles.

 

 

 

 

 

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It is as if the entire city has taken to the streets with a sense of joy and celebration.

 

 

 

 

 

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At the end of the festival, Durga is reunited with her consort Shiva.

 

 

 

 

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Symbolic of the departure to her home with her husband in the Himalayas the statues are taken through the streets to the Ganges and immersed in the flowing river.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The goddess who is omnipresent as the personification of universal mother

The goddess who is omnipresent as the embodiment of power

The goddess who is omnipresent as the symbol of peace

I bow to her, I bow to her, I bow to her

 

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Ramlila

 

 

 

 

 

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The Ramayana, written in Sanskrit by Valmiki, is thought to be even older than the Mahabharata, meaning it may be as much as 3000 years old. Like the Mahabharata it is a sacred text.

 

 

 

 

 

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Tulsidas wrote a populist version of the Ramlila in Hindi at about the time of Akbar the Great, around 1600 A.D.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Rama is the seventh incarnation of Vishnu, who marries Sita, the daughter of the Earth Goddess. Sita is abducted by Ravana the evil demon king of Sri Lanka.

 

 

 

 

 

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In his quest to rescue her Rama is aided by his friend Hanuman the monkey king and his army of monkeys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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There are numerous versions of the Ramlila, and multiple productions are staged in many cities in Northern India.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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By far the most famous of the various Lilas takes place at Ramnagar, a fortress town on the shores of the Ganges. The holy city of Benares is slightly downstream on the opposite bank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2014 by Flex Mentallo

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Where elsewhere the festival takes place over the same nine nights as Navratri and Durga Puja, the Ramlila in Ramnagar is extended over 30 days and nights.

 

Where many iterations have, like Durga Puja, become heavily influenced by secular culture, in Ramnagar no changes are allowed. It is the same now as when first performed, almost 200 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2014 by Flex Mentallo

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The most extraordinary aspect of the experience is that the town itself becomes a stage, and literally a stairway to the spiritual realm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Different episodes are held at different venues, often spread a kilometre or more apart. These venues are permanent addresses in town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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As the action shifts from one venue to another in an evening, a crowd of 10,000 moves with the gods, monkeys and demons. Participation, therefore, can be seen as an experience of pilgrimage.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2014 by Flex Mentallo