Day 5: Pictures and Papaya
HI to you the awesome person who cares enough to read this blog. I honestly really appreciate you. I appreciate that 1) you either care about me or 2) you care about learning about India. If its one or both of those things that brings you here well then I'll try to make it worth your while! :)
We decided to go on a field trip today to the Simhachalam temple. It is a famous Hindu pilgrimage sight-- and it was pretty awesome! The temple is elaborate and is dedicated to Narasimha, the man-lion god, an avatar of Vishnu. Because our professors are friends of the King who is the patron of this temple we were able to get into some of the "inner sanctum". Hindu rituals are very elaborate but the thing I appreciate the most about them is how they connect everything in their lives to their worship of the divine. In some ways it might be very different from what I believe and in other ways it's very similar! Just like them I believe that God listens to us and is present in our lives. Just like them I believe that I should show respect to God.
My favourite thing about observing their rituals is seeing how families go through it together. When we were in the inner sanctum the priest would chant blessings for those that came near him. He would also touch their head with a crown of gold (which symbolizes humble submission to the deity). Parents would approach with their children and instead of giving their own names they would give the names of their kids first. They would make pleas for their children. I was really touched by that.
So here we go with some pictures:
Left: the girls and I in front of the Simhachalam temple; Right: an ancient tree by another small temple (dedicated to Shiva-- another Hindu god)
I wish I had pictures of the coolest part of the day! We got to see the naming ritual for Durga and Razu's baby boy. It was really special! Anyways, today we found out his name. From now on we will call him Mamoksha. We tossed rice at both the parents and the little boy and congratulated them. And the whole time Mamoksha didn't make a sound-- because he is the chillest baby to ever exist!
One last picture to finish up this post:
I have discovered that papaya is the most amazing fruit in the world. Its my new favourite. And we have it all the time here! I had no idea what it looked like a few days ago but now Sailijha even makes us papaya juice. I'm in heaven :)
Also today I learned that the Telugu language doesn't distinguish between feminine and masculine things. You have no idea how happy I was to hear that. It will be so much easier to learn!
Stéf
We decided to go on a field trip today to the Simhachalam temple. It is a famous Hindu pilgrimage sight-- and it was pretty awesome! The temple is elaborate and is dedicated to Narasimha, the man-lion god, an avatar of Vishnu. Because our professors are friends of the King who is the patron of this temple we were able to get into some of the "inner sanctum". Hindu rituals are very elaborate but the thing I appreciate the most about them is how they connect everything in their lives to their worship of the divine. In some ways it might be very different from what I believe and in other ways it's very similar! Just like them I believe that God listens to us and is present in our lives. Just like them I believe that I should show respect to God.
My favourite thing about observing their rituals is seeing how families go through it together. When we were in the inner sanctum the priest would chant blessings for those that came near him. He would also touch their head with a crown of gold (which symbolizes humble submission to the deity). Parents would approach with their children and instead of giving their own names they would give the names of their kids first. They would make pleas for their children. I was really touched by that.
So here we go with some pictures:
Left: the girls and I in front of the Simhachalam temple; Right: an ancient tree by another small temple (dedicated to Shiva-- another Hindu god)
Left: Razu, our laundry man and our cook's husband, with his adorable little boy Siddartha (Siddu for short-- we all love that trouble maker); Right: a bathing area for people entering the temple; we washed our feet in the spring which is considered to bring very good fortune. Yay!
This was another area on the temple grounds where people offer up their hair as a sacrifice-- its a sign of humility before the deity to give up part of your vanity. I was almost templed-- but not really.
I wish I had pictures of the coolest part of the day! We got to see the naming ritual for Durga and Razu's baby boy. It was really special! Anyways, today we found out his name. From now on we will call him Mamoksha. We tossed rice at both the parents and the little boy and congratulated them. And the whole time Mamoksha didn't make a sound-- because he is the chillest baby to ever exist!
One last picture to finish up this post:
I have discovered that papaya is the most amazing fruit in the world. Its my new favourite. And we have it all the time here! I had no idea what it looked like a few days ago but now Sailijha even makes us papaya juice. I'm in heaven :)
Also today I learned that the Telugu language doesn't distinguish between feminine and masculine things. You have no idea how happy I was to hear that. It will be so much easier to learn!
Stéf
Don't stop the posts! They are great!
ReplyDelete